Resolving New Memories: A Critical Look at the Dentate Gyrus, Adult Neurogenesis, and Pattern Separation

Recently, investigation of new neurons in memory formation has focused on a specific function—pattern separation. However, it has been difficult to reconcile the form of separation tested in behavioral tasks with how it is conceptualized according to computational and electrophysiology perspectives....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Mass.), 2011-05, Vol.70 (4), p.589-596
Main Authors: Aimone, James B., Deng, Wei, Gage, Fred H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age Factors
Anatomy & physiology
Animals
Behavior
Dentate Gyrus - cytology
Dentate Gyrus - physiology
Humans
Hypotheses
Memory
Memory - physiology
Neurogenesis
Neurogenesis - physiology
Neurons
Physiology
Population
Studies
Theory
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Summary:Recently, investigation of new neurons in memory formation has focused on a specific function—pattern separation. However, it has been difficult to reconcile the form of separation tested in behavioral tasks with how it is conceptualized according to computational and electrophysiology perspectives. Here, we propose a memory resolution hypothesis that considers the unique information contributions of broadly tuned young neurons and highly specific mature neurons and describe how the fidelity of memories can relate to spatial and contextual discrimination. See the related Perspective from Sahay, Wilson, and Hen, “Pattern Separation: A Common Function for New Neurons in Hippocampus and Olfactory Bulb,” in this issue of Neuron.
ISSN:0896-6273
1097-4199
DOI:10.1016/j.neuron.2011.05.010