Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: Decision-making requires the coordinated activity of diverse brain structures. For example, in maze-based tasks, the prefrontal cortex must integrate spatial information encoded in the hippocampus with mnemonic information concerning route and task rules in order to direct behavior appropriately. Using simultaneous tetrode recordings from CA1 of the rat hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex, we show that correlated firing in the two structures is selectively enhanced during behavior that recruits spatial working memory, allowing the integration of hippocampal spatial information into a broader, decision-making network. The increased correlations are paralleled by enhanced coupling of the two structures in the 4- to 12-Hz theta-frequency range. Thus the coordination of theta rhythms may constitute a general mechanism through which the relative timing of disparate neural activities can be controlled, allowing specialized brain structures to both encode information independently and to interact selectively according to current behavioral demands.
Source: PLoS Biology
Authors: Matthew W Jones, Matthew A Wilson
Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Language: English
Topic: Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $5,500
OpenAlex ID: W2007430976