Mechanisms of Persistent Activity in Cortical Circuits: Possible Neural Substrates for Working Memory

A commonly observed neural correlate of working memory is firing that persists after the triggering stimulus disappears. Substantial effort has been devoted to understanding the many potential mechanisms that may underlie memory-associated persistent activity. These rely either on the intrinsic prop...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of neuroscience 2017-07, Vol.40 (1), p.603-627
Main Authors: Zylberberg, Joel, Strowbridge, Ben W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Action Potentials - physiology
Animals
attractor network
Biophysics
bistability
Brain
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Circuits
Cortex
feedback
Memory
Memory, Short-Term - physiology
Models, Neurological
neocortex
Nerve Net - physiology
Neural networks
Neurons
Neurons - physiology
persistent activity
plateau potential
Short term memory
synaptic transmission
Synaptic Transmission - physiology
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Summary:A commonly observed neural correlate of working memory is firing that persists after the triggering stimulus disappears. Substantial effort has been devoted to understanding the many potential mechanisms that may underlie memory-associated persistent activity. These rely either on the intrinsic properties of individual neurons or on the connectivity within neural circuits to maintain the persistent activity. Nevertheless, it remains unclear which mechanisms are at play in the many brain areas involved in working memory. Herein, we first summarize the palette of different mechanisms that can generate persistent activity. We then discuss recent work that asks which mechanisms underlie persistent activity in different brain areas. Finally, we discuss future studies that might tackle this question further. Our goal is to bridge between the communities of researchers who study either single-neuron biophysical, or neural circuit, mechanisms that can generate the persistent activity that underlies working memory.
ISSN:0147-006X
1545-4126
DOI:10.1146/annurev-neuro-070815-014006