Signatures of rapid plasticity in hippocampal CA1 representations during novel experiences.

ABSTRACT: Neurons in the hippocampus exhibit a striking selectivity for specific combinations of sensory features, forming representations that are thought to subserve episodic memory. Even during completely novel experiences, hippocampal "place cells" are rapidly configured such that the population sparsely encodes visited locations, stabilizing within minutes of the first exposure to a new environment. What mechanisms enable this fast encoding of experience? Using virtual reality and neural population recordings in mice, we dissected the effects of novelty and experience on the dynamics of place field formation. During place field formation, many CA1 neurons immediately modulated the amplitude of their activity and shifted the location of their field, rapid changes in tuning predicted by behaviora

SUBMITTER: Priestley JB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9233041 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature