Brain: Instant replay may help form memories

This discovery might help to explain why we learn tasks better if there are breaks in between repetitions, why hyperactivity might cause learning problems and why simply being awake but resting can help learning.

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* Brain: Instant replay may help form memories - Nature
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[1] Brain: Instant replay may help form memories

DOI: 10.1038/nature04587

Much like a rewinding video, cells in the brains of rats immediately replay
new experiences in reverse, shows a study published online this week by
Nature. This discovery might help to explain why we learn tasks better if
there are breaks in between repetitions, why hyperactivity might cause
learning problems and why simply being awake but resting can help learning.
Researchers already know that cells in the hippocampus of rats rerun
patterns of neural activity when they are asleep. Now, David Foster and
Matthew Wilson have examined what happens in these cells when the animals
are awake, as rats run up and down a track, pausing at each end.
The researchers show that hippocampal cells fire in a particular sequence as
the rat runs and that this sequence of firing is repeated backwards when
they pause. This may help to etch a memory of the route into the brain, the
authors say.

Author contact:

Dr David J Foster (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 617 252 1841, E-mail: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

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Nature PHYSICS (http://www.nature.com/naturephysics
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[2] Superconducting nanowires as quantum phase-slip junctions
DOI: 10.1038/nphys234

NATURE MATERIALS (<http://www.nature.com/naturematerials>)

[3] Optical control of orientational bistability in photorefractive liquid
crystals
DOI: 10.1038/nmat1578

[4] Entropy-driven segregation of nanoparticles to cracks in multilayered
composite polymer structures
DOI: 10.1038/nmat1582

Nature CHEMICAL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/nchembio
<http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience>)

[5] A functional genomics approach to the mode of action of apratoxin A
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio769

[6] Metabolic installation of thiols into sialic acid modulates adhesion and
stem cell biology
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio770

Nature MEDICINE (<http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine>)

[7] Interleukin-15 rescues tolerant CD8+ T cells for use in adoptive
immunotherapy of established tumors
DOI: 10.1038/nm1359

[8] A novel peptide CXCR ligand derived from extracellular matrix
degradation during airway inflammation
DOI: 10.1038/nm1361

[9] Successful transduction of liver in hemophilia by AAV-Factor IX and
limitations imposed by the host immune response
DOI: 10.1038/nm1358

[10] Disruption of PTEN coupling with 5-HT2C receptors suppresses behavioral
responses induced by drugs of abuse
DOI: 10.1038/nm1349

Nature BIOTECHNOLOGY (<http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnolgy>)

[11] An in vitro fluorescence screen to identify antivirals that disrupt
hepatitis B virus capsid assembly
DOI:10.1038/nbt1187

NATURE GENETICS (<http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics>)

[12] Feedback repression is required for mammalian circadian clock function
DOI: 10.1038/ng1745

[13] Rhythmic CLOCK-BMAL1 binding to multiple E-box motifs drives circadian
Dbp transcription and chromatin transitions
DOI: 10.1038/ng1738

[14] Germline KRAS and BRAF mutations in cardio-faciocutaneous syndrome
DOI: 10.1038/ng1749

[15] Germline KRAS mutations cause Noonan syndrome
DOI: 10.1038/ng1748

Nature NEUROSCIENCE (<http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience>)

[16] The tempotron: a neuron that learns spike timing-based decisions
DOI: 10.1038/nn1643

[17] Decreases in the precision of Purkinje cell pacemaking cause cerebellar
dysfunction and ataxia
DOI: 10.1038/nn1648

[18] Visual stimuli-induced LTD of GABAergic synapses mediated by
presynaptic NMDA receptors
DOI: 10.1038/nn1649

[19] Respiratory rhythm generation during gasping depends on persistent
sodium current
DOI: 10.1038/nn1650

[20] Dendritic patterning by Dscam and synaptic partner matching in the
Drosophila antennal lobe
DOI: 10.1038/nn1652

[21] Selective vulnerability and pruning of phasic motoneuron axons in
motoneuron disease alleviated by CNTF
DOI: 10.1038/nn1653

Nature IMMUNOLOGY (<http://www.nature.com/natureimmunology>)

[22] Positive regulation of immune cell function and inflammatory responses
by phosphatase PAC-1
DOI: 10.1038/ni1310

[23] Structural basis for a major histocompatibility complex class
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DOI: 10.1038/ni1312

NATURE CELL BIOLOGY (<http://www.nature.com/naturecellbiology>)

[24] A microtubule-binding domain in dynactin increases dynein processivity
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DOI: 10.1038/ncb1370

[25] The polarity protein PAR-3 and TIAM1 cooperate in dendritic spine
morphogenesis
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1368

Nature STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(<http://www.nature.com/natstructmolbiol>)

[26] Intermediates revealed in the kinetic mechanism for DNA unwinding by a
monomeric helicase
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1055

[27] Molecular recognition of p53 and MDM2 by USP7/HAUSP
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1067

*************************************************************

GEOGRAPHICAL LISTING OF AUTHORS

The following list of places refers to the whereabouts of authors on the
papers numbered in this release. The listing may be for an author's main
affiliation, or for a place where they are working temporarily. Please see
the PDF of the paper for full details.

AUSTRALIA
Clayton: 23
Melbourne: 22
Newtown: 9
Parkville: 23
Sydney: 22

BRAZIL
Sao Paulo: 9, 14

CANADA
Toronto: 10, 18, 27
Saskatchewan: 10

FRANCE
Angers: 14
Paris: 14

GERMANY
Berlin: 15, 16
Essen: 14
Erlangen: 15
Freiburg: 15
Gottingen: 15
Muenster: 20

ISRAEL
Jerusalem: 16

ITALY
Genova: 23
Messina: 14
Rende: 3
Rome: 14

JAPAN
Hyogo: 12
Osaka: 14
Okinawa: 14
Saitama: 14
Sendai: 14
Yokahama: 14

SPAIN
Barcelcona: 5

SWITZERLAND
Geneva: 13, 22

THE NETHERANDS
Amsterdam: 14
Delft: 2
Nijmegen: 15
Utrecht: 8

UNITED KINGDOM
Bristol: 19
London: 14

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Alabama
Birmingham: 8
Arkansas
Little Rock: 26
California
Alameda: 9
Berkeley: 15, 17
La Jolla: 5, 12
Los Angeles: 20
Palo Alto: 9
San Diego: 5, 7, 12
San Francisco: 15
Stanford: 20
Delaware
Newark: 9
Florida
Gainesville: 5
Jupiter: 12, 24
Indiana
West Lafayette: 20
Maryland
Baltimore: 6
Bethesda: 19
Massachusetts
Amherst: 4
Cambridge: 1, 16
Missouri:
Kansas City: 24
New Hampshire
Lebanon: 19
New York
Bronx: 17
New York: 9
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City: 11
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: 9
Pittsburgh: 4, 9, 24
Tennessee
Nashville: 10
Texas
Houston: 9
Virginia
Charlottesville: 25
Washington
Seattle: 7
Wisconsin
Madison: 11

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Published: 12 Feb 2006

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