Guerreiro, Inês C;
Clopath, Claudia;
(2024)
Memory's gatekeeper: The role of PFC in the encoding of congruent events.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
, 121
(30)
, Article e2403648121. 10.1073/pnas.2403648121.
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Abstract
Theoretical models conventionally portray the consolidation of memories as a slow process that unfolds during sleep. According to the classical Complementary Learning Systems theory, the hippocampus (HPC) rapidly changes its connectivity during wakefulness to encode ongoing events and create memory ensembles that are later transferred to the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during sleep. However, recent experimental studies challenge this notion by showing that new information consistent with prior knowledge can be rapidly consolidated in PFC during wakefulness and that PFC lesions disrupt the encoding of congruent events in the HPC. The contributions of the PFC to memory encoding have therefore largely been overlooked. Moreover, most theoretical frameworks assume random and uncorrelated patterns representing memories, disregarding the correlations between our experiences. To address these shortcomings, we developed a HPC-PFC network model that simulates interactions between the HPC and PFC during the encoding of a memory (awake stage), and subsequent consolidation (sleeping stage) to examine the contributions of each region to the consolidation of novel and congruent memories. Our results show that the PFC network uses stored memory "schemas" consolidated during previous experiences to identify inputs that evoke congruent patterns of activity, quickly integrate it into its network, and gate which components are encoded in the HPC. More specifically, the PFC uses GABAergic long-range projections to inhibit HPC neurons representing input components correlated with a previously stored memory "schema," eliciting sparse hippocampal activity during exposure to congruent events, as it has been experimentally observed.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Memory's gatekeeper: The role of PFC in the encoding of congruent events |
| Location: | United States |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.2403648121 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2403648121 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND). |
| Keywords: | HPC–PFC network, inhibition, memory consolidation, pattern separation, schemas, Prefrontal Cortex, Hippocampus, Memory, Humans, Sleep, Wakefulness, Models, Neurological, Memory Consolidation, Animals |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Neuro, Physiology and Pharmacology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10207125 |
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