Pattern Separation in the Human Hippocampal CA3 and Dentate Gyrus

Pattern separation, the process of transforming similar representations or memories into highly dissimilar, nonoverlapping representations, is a key component of many functions ascribed to the hippocampus. Computational models have stressed the role of the hippocampus and, in particular, the dentate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2008-03, Vol.319 (5870), p.1640-1642
Main Authors: Bakker, Arnold, Kirwan, C. Brock, Miller, Michael, Stark, Craig E.L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Brain Mapping
Computational modeling
Dentate gyrus
Dentate Gyrus - physiology
Entorhinal cortex
Entorhinal Cortex - physiology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hippocampus
Hippocampus - physiology
Humans
Legal objections
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Memory
Memory - physiology
Neurology
Neurons
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Parahippocampal Gyrus - physiology
Pattern recognition
Pattern Recognition, Physiological
Research Article
Rodents
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
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Summary:Pattern separation, the process of transforming similar representations or memories into highly dissimilar, nonoverlapping representations, is a key component of many functions ascribed to the hippocampus. Computational models have stressed the role of the hippocampus and, in particular, the dentate gyrus and its projections into the CA3 subregion in pattern separation. We used high-resolution (1.5-millimeter isotropic voxels) functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure brain activity during incidental memory encoding. Although activity consistent with a bias toward pattern completion was observed in CA1, the subiculum, and the entorhinal and parahippocampal cortices, activity consistent with a strong bias toward pattern separation was observed in, and limited to, the CA3/dentate gyrus. These results provide compelling evidence of a key role of the human CA3/dentate gyrus in pattern separation.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1152882