title: Rapid Encoding of New Memories by Individual Neurons in the Human Brain.
abstract: The creation of memories about real-life episodes requires rapid neuronal changes that may appear after a single occurrence of an event. How is such demand met by neurons in the medial temporal lobe (MTL), which plays a fundamental role in episodic memory formation? We recorded the activity of MTL neurons in neurosurgical patients while they learned new associations. Pairs of unrelated pictures, one of a person and another of a place, were used to construct a meaningful association modeling the episodic memory of meeting a person in a particular place. We found that a large proportion of responsive MTL neurons expanded their selectivity to encode these specific associations within a few trials: cells initially responsive to one picture started firing to the associated one but not to others. Our results provide a plausible neural substrate for the inception of associations, which are crucial for the formation of episodic memories.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7QR, UK; Department of Engineering, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK. Electronic address: mji3@le.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Matias J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ison
authors.affiliation: Centre for Systems Neuroscience, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7QR, UK; Department of Engineering, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quian Quiroga
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7039, USA; Functional Neurosurgery Unit, Tel-Aviv Medical Center and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, 69978, Israel.
authors.forename: Itzhak
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fried
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004569:Electroencephalography; D018728:Entorhinal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D020534:Parahippocampal Gyrus / Q000502:physiology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult