Role for a cortical input to hippocampal area CA1 in the consolidation of a long-term memory

Miguel Remondes and Erin M. Schuman ()
Additional contact information
Miguel Remondes: Caltech/HHMI
Erin M. Schuman: Caltech/HHMI

Nature, 2004, vol. 431, issue 7009, 699-703

Abstract: Abstract A dialogue between the hippocampus and the neocortex is thought to underlie the formation, consolidation and retrieval of episodic memories1,2,3,4, although the nature of this cortico-hippocampal communication is poorly understood. Using selective electrolytic lesions in rats, here we examined the role of the direct entorhinal projection (temporoammonic, TA) to the hippocampal area CA1 in short-term (24 hours) and long-term (four weeks) spatial memory in the Morris water maze. When short-term memory was examined, both sham- and TA-lesioned animals showed a significant preference for the target quadrant. When re-tested four weeks later, sham-lesioned animals exhibited long-term memory; in contrast, the TA-lesioned animals no longer showed target quadrant preference. Many long-lasting memories require a process called consolidation, which involves the exchange of information between the cortex and hippocampus3,5,6. The disruption of long-term memory by the TA lesion could reflect a requirement for TA input during either the acquisition or consolidation of long-term memory. To distinguish between these possibilities, we trained animals, verified their spatial memory 24 hours later, and then subjected trained animals to TA lesions. TA-lesioned animals still exhibited a deficit in long-term memory, indicating a disruption of consolidation. Animals in which the TA lesion was delayed by three weeks, however, showed a significant preference for the target quadrant, indicating that the memory had already been adequately consolidated at the time of the delayed lesion. These results indicate that, after learning, ongoing cortical input conveyed by the TA path is required to consolidate long-term spatial memory.

Date: 2004
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature02965 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:431:y:2004:i:7009:d:10.1038_nature02965

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature02965

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().