Corticothalamic phase synchrony and cross-frequency coupling predict human memory formation

Abstract
Article and author information
Metrics

Abstract

The anterior thalamic nucleus (ATN) is thought to play an important role in a brain network involving the hippocampus and neocortex, which enables human memories to be formed. However, its small size and location deep within the brain have impeded direct investigation in humans with non-invasive techniques. Here we provide direct evidence for a functional role for the ATN in memory formation from rare simultaneous human intrathalamic and scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings from 8 volunteering patients receiving intrathalamic electrodes implanted for the treatment of epilepsy, demonstrating real-time communication between neocortex and ATN during successful memory encoding. Neocortical-ATN theta oscillatory phase synchrony of local field potentials and neocortical-theta-to-ATN-gamma cross-frequency coupling during presentation of complex photographic scenes predicted later memory for the pictures, demonstrating a key role for the ATN in human memory encoding.

Article and author information

Author details

Catherine M Sweeney-Reed

Department of Neurology, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

For correspondence
catherine.sweeney-reed@med.ovgu.de

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Tino Zaehle

Department of Neurology, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Juergen Voges

Department of Neurology, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Friedhelm C Schmitt

Department of Neurology, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Lars Buentjen

Department of Neurology, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Klaus Kopitzki

Department of Neurology, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Christine Esslinger

Department of Neurology, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Hermann Hinrichs

Department of Neurology, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Hans-Jochen Heinze

Department of Neurology, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Robert T Knight

Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Alan Richardson-Klavehn

Department of Neurology, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Ethics

Human subjects: The measurements were approved by the Ethics Commission of the Medical Faculty of the Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, and all participants gave written informed consent.

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.