Christian Leibold: On Intrinsic Hippocampal Sequences

Universität Freiburg

In the hippocampus, sequence activity  is expressed during sleep states, awake quiescence and locomotion and associated with as diverse functions as memory consolidation, memory formation, planning and navigation. Despite many attempts, there is currently no accepted model unifying the different types of sequence expression let alone their function. We suggest to distinguish between external, sensory-motor evoked sequence components reflecting the topology of space, i.e., sequences that reverse their direction upon reversal of the direction of travel, and intrinsic components that retain their correlation structure independent of behavioral state and independent of experience. We introduce a mechanistic computational model that explains the concurrent expression of both types of sequences and hypothesize intrinsic sequences to serve as a scaffold on which to build the cognitive map.

 

Organized by

Henning Sprekeler / Margret Franke