Phase of firing does not reflect temporal order in sequence memory of humans and recurrent neural networks.

ABSTRACT: The temporal order of a sequence of events has been thought to be reflected in the ordered firing of neurons at different phases of theta oscillations. Here we assess this by measuring single neuron activity (1,420 neurons) and local field potentials (921 channels) in the medial temporal lobe of 16 patients with epilepsy performing a working-memory task for temporal order. During memory maintenance, we observe theta oscillations, preferential firing of single neurons to theta phase and a close relationship between phase of firing and item position. However, the firing order did not match item order. Training recurrent neural networks to perform an analogous task, we also show the generation of theta oscillations, theta phase-dependent firing related to item position and, again, no match be

SUBMITTER: Liebe S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11976290 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature