By using different groups of cells to represent distinct environments and events, the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus helps to keep memories of similar events separate.
The ability to discriminate highly overlapping events in memory is a multistage process supported by a network of brain regions and neocortical–hippocampal interactions.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging and multivariate pattern analysis reveal remapping-like behavior during successful retrieval of competing environments, while unsuccessful retrieval is accompanied by reinstatement of interfering representations.
3-10 weeks old adult-born granule cells provide two temporally overlapping but functionally distinct neuronal cell populations by being sensitive to distinct aspects of their inputs.
Two-photon in vivo calcium imaging reveals short time-scale, synchronous and sparse population activity in dentate gyrus that replays place-related information, and is important for formation of dentate-dependent spatial memory.
Adult neurogenesis, although happening at a slow rate in the adult brain, plays an important role in learning and memory and has the ability to powerfully modulate large scale neural networks.
The interplay of recurrent excitation and short-term plasticity enables nonlinear transient amplification, an ideal mechanism for selective amplification, pattern completion, and pattern separation in recurrent neural networks.
The GABA input switching from excitatory to inhibitory during maturation of adult-born dentate granule cells is crucial for their integration into the preexisting circuit.