Orchestrated ensemble activities constitute a hippocampal memory engram

Khaled Ghandour, Noriaki Ohkawa (), Chi Chung Alan Fung, Hirotaka Asai, Yoshito Saitoh, Takashi Takekawa, Reiko Okubo-Suzuki, Shingo Soya, Hirofumi Nishizono, Mina Matsuo, Makoto Osanai, Masaaki Sato, Masamichi Ohkura, Junichi Nakai, Yasunori Hayashi, Takeshi Sakurai, Takashi Kitamura, Tomoki Fukai and Kaoru Inokuchi ()
Additional contact information
Khaled Ghandour: University of Toyama
Noriaki Ohkawa: University of Toyama
Chi Chung Alan Fung: Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
Hirotaka Asai: University of Toyama
Yoshito Saitoh: University of Toyama
Takashi Takekawa: Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
Reiko Okubo-Suzuki: University of Toyama
Shingo Soya: University of Tsukuba
Hirofumi Nishizono: Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
Mina Matsuo: University of Toyama
Makoto Osanai: Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine
Masaaki Sato: RIKEN Center for Brain Science
Masamichi Ohkura: Saitama University
Junichi Nakai: Saitama University
Yasunori Hayashi: RIKEN Center for Brain Science
Takeshi Sakurai: University of Tsukuba
Takashi Kitamura: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Tomoki Fukai: Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
Kaoru Inokuchi: University of Toyama

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract The brain stores and recalls memories through a set of neurons, termed engram cells. However, it is unclear how these cells are organized to constitute a corresponding memory trace. We established a unique imaging system that combines Ca2+ imaging and engram identification to extract the characteristics of engram activity by visualizing and discriminating between engram and non-engram cells. Here, we show that engram cells detected in the hippocampus display higher repetitive activity than non-engram cells during novel context learning. The total activity pattern of the engram cells during learning is stable across post-learning memory processing. Within a single engram population, we detected several sub-ensembles composed of neurons collectively activated during learning. Some sub-ensembles preferentially reappear during post-learning sleep, and these replayed sub-ensembles are more likely to be reactivated during retrieval. These results indicate that sub-ensembles represent distinct pieces of information, which are then orchestrated to constitute an entire memory.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10683-2

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