Hippocampal-cortical interactions in the consolidation of social memory.

ABSTRACT: Episodic memories are initially encoded in the hippocampus and subsequently undergo systems consolidation into the neocortex. The nature of memories stored in the hippocampus and neocortex differs, with the cortex encoding memories in more generalized forms. Although several brain regions encode social information, the specific cortical regions and circuits involved in the consolidation of social memories and the nature of the information encoded in the cortex remain unclear. Using in vivo Ca²⁺ imaging and optogenetic manipulations, we found that infralimbic (IL) neurons projecting to the nucleus accumbens shell (IL^→NAcSh) store consolidated social memories in male mice. Inactivating IL^→NAcSh neurons that responded to a familiar conspecific impaired the rec

SUBMITTER: Park G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12485024 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature