Bidirectional prefrontal-hippocampal dynamics organize information transfer during sleep in humans

Randolph F. Helfrich (), Janna D. Lendner, Bryce A. Mander, Heriberto Guillen, Michelle Paff, Lilit Mnatsakanyan, Sumeet Vadera, Matthew P. Walker, Jack J. Lin and Robert T. Knight
Additional contact information
Randolph F. Helfrich: UC Berkeley
Janna D. Lendner: UC Berkeley
Bryce A. Mander: UC Irvine
Heriberto Guillen: UC Irvine
Michelle Paff: UC Irvine
Lilit Mnatsakanyan: UC Irvine
Sumeet Vadera: UC Irvine
Matthew P. Walker: UC Berkeley
Jack J. Lin: UC Irvine
Robert T. Knight: UC Berkeley

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract How are memories transferred from short-term to long-term storage? Systems-level memory consolidation is thought to be dependent on the coordinated interplay of cortical slow waves, thalamo-cortical sleep spindles and hippocampal ripple oscillations. However, it is currently unclear how the selective interaction of these cardinal sleep oscillations is organized to support information reactivation and transfer. Here, using human intracranial recordings, we demonstrate that the prefrontal cortex plays a key role in organizing the ripple-mediated information transfer during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. We reveal a temporally precise form of coupling between prefrontal slow-wave and spindle oscillations, which actively dictates the hippocampal-neocortical dialogue and information transfer. Our results suggest a model of the human sleeping brain in which rapid bidirectional interactions, triggered by the prefrontal cortex, mediate hippocampal activation to optimally time subsequent information transfer to the neocortex during NREM sleep.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11444-x

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