title: Single-cell recordings in the human medial temporal lobe.
abstract: Recordings from individual neurons in patients who are implanted with depth electrodes for clinical reasons have opened the possibility to narrow down the gap between neurophysiological studies in animals and non-invasive (e.g. functional magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalogram, magnetoencephalography) investigations in humans. Here we provide a description of the main procedures for electrode implantation and recordings, the experimental paradigms used and the main steps for processing the data. We also present key characteristics of the so-called 'concept cells', neurons in the human medial temporal lobe with selective and invariant responses that represent the meaning of the stimulus, and discuss their proposed role in declarative memory. Finally, we present novel results dealing with the stability of the representation given by these neurons, by studying the effect of stimulus repetition in the strength of the responses. In particular, we show that, after an initial decay, the response strength reaches an asymptotic value after approximately 15 presentations that remains above baseline for the whole duration of the experiment.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
authors.forename: Hernan G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Rey
authors.affiliation: Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.|Department of Engineering, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
authors.forename: Matias J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ison
authors.affiliation: Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.|Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pedreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.|Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, King's College Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valentin
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.|Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, King's College Hospital, London, UK.|Departamento de Fisiología, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alarcon
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, King's College Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Selway
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.|Department of Neurology, King's College Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Mark P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.affiliation: Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.|Department of Engineering, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quian Quiroga
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: declarative memory; medial temporal lobe; repetition suppression; single cell recordings in humans