Erasable Hippocampal Neural Signatures Predict Memory Discrimination.

We leveraged the spatial-temporal resolution of in vivo calcium imaging in freely moving mice to interrogate how blocking contextual fear memory consolidation impacted learning-related hippocampal dynamics. We found that memory specificity correlated with the amount of cell turnover between a shock and neutral arena and that learning caused context-specific remapping. Blocking protein synthesis following learning promoted an acute suppression of neural activity, arrested learning-related remapping, and induced amnesia. Lastly, freeze-predicting neural ensembles emerged following learning, and their coordinated activity required protein synthesis. We conclude that context-specific place field remapping and the development of coordinated ensemble activity support contextual fear memory consolidation and require protein synthesis.