title: Hippocampal-prefrontal input supports spatial encoding in working memory.
abstract: Spatial working memory, the caching of behaviourally relevant spatial cues on a timescale of seconds, is a fundamental constituent of cognition. Although the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus are known to contribute jointly to successful spatial working memory, the anatomical pathway and temporal window for the interaction of these structures critical to spatial working memory has not yet been established. Here we find that direct hippocampal-prefrontal afferents are critical for encoding, but not for maintenance or retrieval, of spatial cues in mice. These cues are represented by the activity of individual prefrontal units in a manner that is dependent on hippocampal input only during the cue-encoding phase of a spatial working memory task. Successful encoding of these cues appears to be mediated by gamma-frequency synchrony between the two structures. These findings indicate a critical role for the direct hippocampal-prefrontal afferent pathway in the continuous updating of task-related spatial information during spatial working memory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University, 630 West 168th Street, New York, New York 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Spellman
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, New York 10032, USA [2] IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, 1101 Kitchawan Road, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA [3] Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America, Columbia University, 1161 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Mattia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rigotti
authors.affiliation: 1] Translational Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, 450 Techology Drive, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219, USA [2] Center for Neuroscience and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, 200 Lothrop Drive, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, USA.
authors.forename: Susanne E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Ahmari
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, New York 10032, USA [2] Kavli Institute for Brain Sciences, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, New York 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fusi
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University, 630 West 168th Street, New York, New York 10032, USA [2] Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, New York 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gogos
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, New York 10032, USA [2] Division of Integrative Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, New York 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gordon
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D003463:Cues; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008959:Models, Neurological; D062308:Optogenetics; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D065852:Spatial Memory / Q000502:physiology*