Engrams and circuits crucial for systems consolidation of a memory

Episodic memories initially require rapid synaptic plasticity within the hippocampus for their formation and are gradually consolidated in neocortical networks for permanent storage. However, the engrams and circuits that support neocortical memory consolidation have thus far been unknown.We found t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kitamura, Takashi, Kitamura, Sachie Ogawa, Roy, Dheeraj, Okuyama, Teruhiro, Morrissey, Mark, Smith, Lillian, Tonegawa, Susumu, Redondo, Roger L.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
Format: Article
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/116876
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1982-634X
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5218-1216
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1566-0063
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2839-8228
Description
Summary:Episodic memories initially require rapid synaptic plasticity within the hippocampus for their formation and are gradually consolidated in neocortical networks for permanent storage. However, the engrams and circuits that support neocortical memory consolidation have thus far been unknown.We found that neocortical prefrontal memory engram cells, which are critical for remote contextual fear memory, were rapidly generated during initial learning through inputs from both the hippocampal-entorhinal cortex network and the basolateral amygdala. After their generation, the prefrontal engram cells, with support from hippocampal memory engram cells, became functionally mature with time. Whereas hippocampal engram cells gradually became silent with time, engram cells in the basolateral amygdala, which were necessary for fear memory, were maintained. Our data provide new insights into the functional reorganization of engrams and circuits underlying systems consolidation of memory.