Precisely timed theta oscillations are selectively required during the encoding phase of memory.
Clare R QuirkIpshita ZutshiSunandha SrikanthMaylin L FuNaomie Devico MarcianoMorgan K WrightDarian F ParseyStanley LiuRachel E SiretskiyTiffany L HuynhJill K LeutgebStefan LeutgebPublished in: Nature neuroscience (2021)
Brain oscillations have been hypothesized to support cognitive function by coordinating spike timing within and across brain regions, yet it is often not known when timing is either critical for neural computations or an epiphenomenon. The entorhinal cortex and hippocampus are necessary for learning and memory and exhibit prominent theta oscillations (6-9 Hz), which are controlled by pacemaker cells in the medial septal area. Here we show that entorhinal and hippocampal neuronal activity patterns were strongly entrained by rhythmic optical stimulation of parvalbumin-positive medial septal area neurons in mice. Despite strong entrainment, memory impairments in a spatial working memory task were not observed with pacing frequencies at or below the endogenous theta frequency and only emerged at frequencies ≥10 Hz, and specifically when pacing was targeted to maze segments where encoding occurs. Neural computations during the encoding phase were therefore selectively disrupted by perturbations of the timing of neuronal firing patterns.
Keyphrases
- working memory
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- resting state
- functional connectivity
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- blood brain barrier
- transcranial direct current stimulation
- brain injury
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- induced apoptosis
- cardiac resynchronization therapy
- white matter
- cell cycle arrest
- hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- spinal cord
- high fat diet induced
- type diabetes
- insulin resistance
- high speed
- metabolic syndrome
- cell proliferation
- heart failure
- cognitive impairment
- cell death
- signaling pathway
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- drug delivery
- left ventricular
- mass spectrometry
- vena cava
- wild type