Abstract
Circuits within the hippocampal formation are active during memory processing. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine multiple sites across the long axis of the hippocampal formation while subjects performed different phases of an associative memory task, learning to associate faces with names. Viewing faces and hearing names in isolation resulted in separate hippocampal activation patterns. Pairing faces with names resulted a spatially redistributed activation pattern, rather than a simple summation of the activation patterns resulting from viewing faces and hearing names in isolation. Recalling names when cued with faces reactivated a pattern similar to that found during paired training. Finally, the activation patterns representing faces and names were found to be experience dependent, emerging with repeated exposure. Interpreted in the context of hippocampal anatomy and physiology, these findings reveal hippocampal circuit mechanisms that underlie memory encoding and retrieval.
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Acknowledgements
We thank B. Rakitin for his assistance in data analysis. This work was supported in part by federal grants AG08702 and AG00946, the Beeson Faculty Scholar Award from the American Federation of Aging and the Charles S. Robertson gift from the Banbury Fund.
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Small, S., Nava, A., Perera, G. et al. Circuit mechanisms underlying memory encoding and retrieval in the long axis of the hippocampal formation. Nat Neurosci 4, 442–449 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/86115
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/86115
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