Event:

What are the systems-level mechanisms allowing for formation of memories? The conceptual picture that emerges is that the representation of a novel object or event is incorporated into representation of the spatio-temporal context in the hippocampus, a structure critical for memory. Both transfer of information to and encoding in the hippocampus relies on the external sensory inputs and internal network dynamics, which both change with animal behaviour. However the quantitative link between diverse exploratory behaviour that rodents use to actively sample external sensory inputs during learning, oscillatory network dynamics that controls information flow and hippocampal encoding and population activity of hippocampal neurons is not established. In the talk I will present the research directions pursued by our group that aim to close this gap. I will present our recent results that illustrate how insights into the relationship between spontaneous exploratory behaviour, internal network dynamics and the activity of hippocampal neurons give rise to a temporal framework for the analysis of the mechanisms of memory encoding.