Linking temporal coordination of hippocampal activity to memory function

Oscillations in neural activity are widespread throughout the brain and can be observed at the population level through the local field potential. These rhythmic patterns are associated with cycles of excitability and are thought to coordinate networks of neurons, in turn facilitating effective comm...

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Main Authors: Guillaume Etter, James E. Carmichael, Sylvain Williams
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-08-01
Series:Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncel.2023.1233849/full
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author Guillaume Etter
James E. Carmichael
Sylvain Williams
author_facet Guillaume Etter
James E. Carmichael
Sylvain Williams
author_sort Guillaume Etter
collection DOAJ
description Oscillations in neural activity are widespread throughout the brain and can be observed at the population level through the local field potential. These rhythmic patterns are associated with cycles of excitability and are thought to coordinate networks of neurons, in turn facilitating effective communication both within local circuits and across brain regions. In the hippocampus, theta rhythms (4–12 Hz) could contribute to several key physiological mechanisms including long-range synchrony, plasticity, and at the behavioral scale, support memory encoding and retrieval. While neurons in the hippocampus appear to be temporally coordinated by theta oscillations, they also tend to fire in sequences that are developmentally preconfigured. Although loss of theta rhythmicity impairs memory, these sequences of spatiotemporal representations persist in conditions of altered hippocampal oscillations. The focus of this review is to disentangle the relative contribution of hippocampal oscillations from single-neuron activity in learning and memory. We first review cellular, anatomical, and physiological mechanisms underlying the generation and maintenance of hippocampal rhythms and how they contribute to memory function. We propose candidate hypotheses for how septohippocampal oscillations could support memory function while not contributing directly to hippocampal sequences. In particular, we explore how theta rhythms could coordinate the integration of upstream signals in the hippocampus to form future decisions, the relevance of such integration to downstream regions, as well as setting the stage for behavioral timescale synaptic plasticity. Finally, we leverage stimulation-based treatment in Alzheimer's disease conditions as an opportunity to assess the sufficiency of hippocampal oscillations for memory function.
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spelling doaj.art-b22b22520cdc4761a765bb7748a034102023-08-31T13:01:17ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience1662-51022023-08-011710.3389/fncel.2023.12338491233849Linking temporal coordination of hippocampal activity to memory functionGuillaume EtterJames E. CarmichaelSylvain WilliamsOscillations in neural activity are widespread throughout the brain and can be observed at the population level through the local field potential. These rhythmic patterns are associated with cycles of excitability and are thought to coordinate networks of neurons, in turn facilitating effective communication both within local circuits and across brain regions. In the hippocampus, theta rhythms (4–12 Hz) could contribute to several key physiological mechanisms including long-range synchrony, plasticity, and at the behavioral scale, support memory encoding and retrieval. While neurons in the hippocampus appear to be temporally coordinated by theta oscillations, they also tend to fire in sequences that are developmentally preconfigured. Although loss of theta rhythmicity impairs memory, these sequences of spatiotemporal representations persist in conditions of altered hippocampal oscillations. The focus of this review is to disentangle the relative contribution of hippocampal oscillations from single-neuron activity in learning and memory. We first review cellular, anatomical, and physiological mechanisms underlying the generation and maintenance of hippocampal rhythms and how they contribute to memory function. We propose candidate hypotheses for how septohippocampal oscillations could support memory function while not contributing directly to hippocampal sequences. In particular, we explore how theta rhythms could coordinate the integration of upstream signals in the hippocampus to form future decisions, the relevance of such integration to downstream regions, as well as setting the stage for behavioral timescale synaptic plasticity. Finally, we leverage stimulation-based treatment in Alzheimer's disease conditions as an opportunity to assess the sufficiency of hippocampal oscillations for memory function.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncel.2023.1233849/fullhippocampusmedial septummemorytheta rhythmsphase-precessionplasticity
spellingShingle Guillaume Etter
James E. Carmichael
Sylvain Williams
Linking temporal coordination of hippocampal activity to memory function
Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
hippocampus
medial septum
memory
theta rhythms
phase-precession
plasticity
title Linking temporal coordination of hippocampal activity to memory function
title_full Linking temporal coordination of hippocampal activity to memory function
title_fullStr Linking temporal coordination of hippocampal activity to memory function
title_full_unstemmed Linking temporal coordination of hippocampal activity to memory function
title_short Linking temporal coordination of hippocampal activity to memory function
title_sort linking temporal coordination of hippocampal activity to memory function
topic hippocampus
medial septum
memory
theta rhythms
phase-precession
plasticity
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncel.2023.1233849/full
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