Minute-scale periodicity of neuronal firing in the human entorhinal cortex

Multiplexing of temporal and spatial information in the lateral entorhinal cortex

Episodic memory involves the processing of spatial and temporal aspects of personal experiences. The lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) plays an essential role in subserving memory. However, the mechanisms by which LEC integrates spatial and temporal information remain elusive. Here, we recorded LEC neurons while male rats performed one-dimensional tasks. Many LEC cells displayed spatial firing fields and demonstrated selectivity for traveling directions. Furthermore, some LEC neurons changed the firing rates of their spatial rate maps during a session (rate remapping). Importantly, this temporal modulation was consistent across sessions, even when the spatial environment was altered. Notably, the strength of temporal modulation was greater in LEC compared to other brain regions, such as the medial entorhinal cortex, CA1, and CA3. Thus, we demonstrate spatial rate mapping in LEC neurons, which may serve as a coding mechanism for temporal context, and allow for flexible multiplexing of spatial and temporal information.

Transitional gradation and the distinction between episodic and semantic memory

In this article, we explore various arguments against the traditional distinction between episodic and semantic memory based on the metaphysical phenomenon of transitional gradation. Transitional gradation occurs when two candidate kinds A and B grade into one another along a continuum according to their characteristic properties. We review two kinds of arguments-from the gradual semanticization of episodic memories as they are consolidated, and from the composition of episodic memories during storage and recall from semantic memories-that predict the proliferation of such transitional forms. We further explain why the distinction cannot be saved from the challenges of transitional gradation by appealing to distinct underlying memory structures and applying our perspective to the impasse over research into 'episodic-like' memory in non-human animals. On the whole, we recommend replacing the distinction with a dynamic life cycle of memory in which a variety of transitional forms will proliferate, and illustrate the utility of this perspective by tying together recent trends in animal episodic memory research and recommending productive future directions. This article is part of the theme issue 'Elements of episodic memory: lessons from 40 years of research'.

Mental navigation in the primate entorhinal cortex

A cognitive map is a suitably structured representation that enables novel computations using previous experience; for example, planning a new route in a familiar space1. Work in mammals has found direct evidence for such representations in the presence of exogenous sensory inputs in both spatial2,3 and non-spatial domains4-10. Here we tested a foundational postulate of the original cognitive map theory1,11: that cognitive maps support endogenous computations without external input. We recorded from the entorhinal cortex of monkeys in a mental navigation task that required the monkeys to use a joystick to produce one-dimensional vectors between pairs of visual landmarks without seeing the intermediate landmarks. The ability of the monkeys to perform the task and generalize to new pairs indicated that they relied on a structured representation of the landmarks. Task-modulated neurons exhibited periodicity and ramping that matched the temporal structure of the landmarks and showed signatures of continuous attractor networks12,13. A continuous attractor network model of path integration14 augmented with a Hebbian-like learning mechanism provided an explanation of how the system could endogenously recall landmarks. The model also made an unexpected prediction that endogenous landmarks transiently slow path integration, reset the dynamics and thereby reduce variability. This prediction was borne out in a reanalysis of firing rate variability and behaviour. Our findings link the structured patterns of activity in the entorhinal cortex to the endogenous recruitment of a cognitive map during mental navigation.

Minute-scale oscillatory sequences in medial entorhinal cortex

The medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) hosts many of the brain's circuit elements for spatial navigation and episodic memory, operations that require neural activity to be organized across long durations of experience1. Whereas location is known to be encoded by spatially tuned cell types in this brain region2,3, little is known about how the activity of entorhinal cells is tied together over time at behaviourally relevant time scales, in the second-to-minute regime. Here we show that MEC neuronal activity has the capacity to be organized into ultraslow oscillations, with periods ranging from tens of seconds to minutes. During these oscillations, the activity is further organized into periodic sequences. Oscillatory sequences manifested while mice ran at free pace on a rotating wheel in darkness, with no change in location or running direction and no scheduled rewards. The sequences involved nearly the entire cell population, and transcended epochs of immobility. Similar sequences were not observed in neighbouring parasubiculum or in visual cortex. Ultraslow oscillatory sequences in MEC may have the potential to couple neurons and circuits across extended time scales and serve as a template for new sequence formation during navigation and episodic memory formation.