Spike timing-based memory in the hippocampus. (360G-Wellcome-081551_A_06_Z)

Hippocampal area CA3 is widely considered to function as an autoassociative memory, supporting key aspects of episodic storage and recall, in conjunction with other hippocampal and cortical areas. However, previous accounts of this function fail to address the rich dynamical behaviours exhibited in CA3. We have recently suggested, and experimentally validated, a normative account that predicts the relationship between the dynamical interactions among pyramidal neurons during oscillatory memory recall and the characteristics of the spike-timing dependent synaptic plasticity (STDP) rule governing storage. We now propose to investigate three significant theoretical and experimental extensions to this account. First, we will study a model incorporating spiking rates as well as spiking times. Second, we will consider how STDP rules should optimally match the statistics of input patterns. Third, we will consider how coordinated neural oscillations between hippocampal subregions, and between the hippocampus as a whole and the neocortex, may support aspects of memory consolidation.