scholarly journals Information interactions between prefrontal cortex and hippocampus during performance of a spatial working memory task

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Lei Guo ◽  
Dongzhao Liu ◽  
Guizhi Xu
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Information Transmission ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Effective Connectivity ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Directed Networks ◽  
Medial Pfc

Abstract Spatial working memory (SWM) refers to a short-term system for temporary manipulation of spatial information and requires the cooperation of multiple brain regions. Despite evidence that hippocampus (HPC) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) are involved in SWM, how PFC and HPC coordinate the neural information during SWM remains puzzling. In this study, local field potentials (LFPs) were recorded simultaneously from rat ventral HPC and medial PFC during SWM tasks. Then cross-frequency coupling algorithm was used as functional connectivity for construction of undirected networks; Grange causality algorithm was used as effective connectivity for construction of directed networks. Finally, information interactions across two brain regions were analyzed based on undirected and directed networks. Experimental results show that LFPs power in PFC and HPC both decreased over learning days and peaked before the reference point during SWM, moreover, LFPs mainly distributed in theta and gamma. From the undirected aspect, undirected PFC subnetwork and HPC subnetwork have the same effect on information transmission for SWM; the PAC between PFC-gamma and HPC-theta in undirected PFC-HPC network is related to SWM formation and contributes to information interactions between PFC and HPC. From the directed aspect, the effect of information transmission in directed HPC subnetwork is greater than PFC subnetwork; the enhancement of coordination between directed PFC and HPC subnetworks contributes to correct execution of SWM tasks; directed HPC→PFC network plays a predominant role in information interaction; with the increasing of learning days, PFC and HPC tend to be the causal sink and causal source of information flow.

scholarly journals Negative Effects of Embodiment in a Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Task in Children, Young Adults, and Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianluca Amico ◽  
Sabine Schaefer
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Negative Effects

Studies examining the effect of embodied cognition have shown that linking one’s body movements to a cognitive task can enhance performance. The current study investigated whether concurrent walking while encoding or recalling spatial information improves working memory performance, and whether 10-year-old children, young adults, or older adults (Mage = 72 years) are affected differently by embodiment. The goal of the Spatial Memory Task was to encode and recall sequences of increasing length by reproducing positions of target fields in the correct order. The nine targets were positioned in a random configuration on a large square carpet (2.5 m × 2.5 m). During encoding and recall, participants either did not move, or they walked into the target fields. In a within-subjects design, all possible combinations of encoding and recall conditions were tested in counterbalanced order. Contrary to our predictions, moving particularly impaired encoding, but also recall. These negative effects were present in all age groups, but older adults’ memory was hampered even more strongly by walking during encoding and recall. Our results indicate that embodiment may not help people to memorize spatial information, but can create a dual-task situation instead.

scholarly journals Cerebellar Purkinje cell simple spike activity in awake mice represents phase differences between oscillations in medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel S. McAfee ◽  
Yu Liu ◽  
Roy V. Sillitoe ◽  
Detlef H. Heck
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Spike Activity ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Temporal Coordination ◽  
Frequency Bands ◽  
Simple Spike ◽  
Phase Differences

AbstractThe cerebellum has long been recognized for its role in tasks involving precise timing, particularly the temporal coordination of movements. Here we asked whether cerebellar might be involved in the temporal coordination of the phases of neuronal oscillations in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and dorsal hippocampus CA1 region (CA1). These two structures and the cerebellum are jointly involved in spatial working memory. The phases of oscillations in the mPFC and CA1 have been shown to reach a stable alignment (coherence) during the decision making process in a spatial working memory task. Here we report that PC simple spike activity in the cerebellar lobulus simplex in awake, head-fixed mice represents specific phase differences between oscillations in the mPFC and CA1. Most PCs represented phase differences in more than one the conventional frequency bands (delta, theta, beta and gamma). Between the 32 PCs analyzed here, phase differences in all frequency bands were represented. PCs representing phase differences in the theta and low gamma bands showed significant population preference for mPFC phase leading CA1 phase. These findings support the possibility of a cerebellar involvement in the temporal coordination of phase relationships between oscillations in the mPFC and CA1.

scholarly journals Canonical goal-selective representations are absent from prefrontal cortex in a spatial working memory task requiring behavioral flexibility

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Böhm ◽  
Albert K Lee
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Behavioral Flexibility ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Specific Memory ◽  
Multiple Routes ◽  
Task Features

The prefrontal cortex (PFC)’s functions are thought to include working memory, as its activity can reflect information that must be temporarily maintained to realize the current goal. We designed a flexible spatial working memory task that required rats to navigate – after distractions and a delay – to multiple possible goal locations from different starting points and via multiple routes. This made the current goal location the key variable to remember, instead of a particular direction or route to the goal. However, across a broad population of PFC neurons, we found no evidence of current-goal-specific memory in any previously reported form – that is differences in the rate, sequence, phase, or covariance of firing. This suggests that such patterns do not hold working memory in the PFC when information must be employed flexibly. Instead, the PFC grouped locations representing behaviorally equivalent task features together, consistent with a role in encoding long-term knowledge of task structure.

A Large-scale Neurocomputational Model of Task-oriented Behavior Selection and Working Memory in Prefrontal Cortex

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
George L. Chadderdon ◽  
Olaf Sporns
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Synaptic Activity ◽  
Dynamic State ◽  
Memory Representation ◽  
Behavioral Repertoire ◽  
Behavior Selection

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is crucially involved in the executive component of working memory, representation of task state, and behavior selection. This article presents a large-scale computational model of the PFC and associated brain regions designed to investigate the mechanisms by which working memory and task state interact to select adaptive behaviors from a behavioral repertoire. The model consists of multiple brain regions containing neuronal populations with realistic physiological and anatomical properties, including extrastriate visual cortical regions, the inferotemporal cortex, the PFC, the striatum, and midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons. The onset of a delayed match-to-sample or delayed nonmatch-to-sample task triggers tonic DA release in the PFC causing a switch into a persistent, stimulus-insensitive dynamic state that promotes the maintenance of stimulus representations within prefrontal networks. Other modeled prefrontal and striatal units select cognitive acceptance or rejection behaviors according to which task is active and whether prefrontal working memory representations match the current stimulus. Working memory task performance and memory fields of prefrontal delay units are degraded by extreme elevation or depletion of tonic DA levels. Analyses of cellular and synaptic activity suggest that hyponormal DA levels result in increased prefrontal activation, whereas hypernormal DA levels lead to decreased activation. Our simulation results suggest a range of predictions for behavioral, single-cell, and neuroimaging response data under the proposed task set and under manipulations of DA concentration.

scholarly journals The olfactory bulb modulates entorhinal cortex oscillations during spatial working memory

2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Morteza Salimi ◽  
Farhad Tabasi ◽  
Milad Nazari ◽  
Sepideh Ghazvineh ◽  
Alireza Salimi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Olfactory Bulb ◽  
Entorhinal Cortex ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Rhythmic Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Simultaneous Recording

AbstractCognitive functions such as working memory require integrated activity among different brain regions. Notably, entorhinal cortex (EC) activity is associated with the successful working memory task. Olfactory bulb (OB) oscillations are known as rhythms that modulate rhythmic activity in widespread brain regions during cognitive tasks. Since the OB is structurally connected to the EC, we hypothesized that OB could modulate EC activity during working memory performance. Herein, we explored OB–EC functional connectivity during spatial working memory performance by simultaneous recording local field potentials when rats performed a Y-maze task. Our results showed that the coherence of delta, theta, and gamma-band oscillations between OB and EC was increased during correct trials compared to wrong trials. Cross-frequency coupling analyses revealed that the modulatory effect of OBs low-frequency phase on EC gamma power and phase was enhanced when animals correctly performed working memory task. The influx of information from OB to EC was also increased at delta and gamma bands within correct trials. These findings indicated that the modulatory influence of OB rhythms on EC oscillations might be necessary for successful working memory performance.

scholarly journals Complementary Maps for Location and Environmental Structure in CA1 and Subiculum

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob M Olson ◽  
Alexander B Johnson ◽  
Lillian Chang ◽  
Emily L Tao ◽  
Xuefei Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Information ◽  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Unique Role ◽  
Path Structure ◽  
And Function

AbstractThe dorsal subiculum lies among a network of interconnected brain regions that collectively map multiple spatial and orientational relationships between an organism and the boundaries and pathways composing its environment. A unique role of the subiculum in spatial information processing has yet to be defined despite reports of small neuron subpopulations that encode relationships to specific boundaries, axes of travel, or locations. We examined the activity patterns among populations of subiculum neurons during performance of a spatial working memory task performed within a complex network of interconnected pathways. Compared to neurons in hippocampal sub-region CA1, a major source of its afferents, subiculum neurons were far more likely to exhibit multiple firing fields at locations that were analogous with respect to path structure and function. Subiculum neuron populations were also found to exhibit a greater dynamic range in scale of spatial representation and for persistent patterns of spiking activity to be aligned to transitions between maze segments. Together, the findings indicate that the subiculum plays a unique role in spatial mapping, one that complements the location-specific firing of CA1 neurons with the encoding of emergent and recurring structural features of a complex path network.

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