Editor’s Pick: Cortical cell ensembles activated by memory task and seizures

Reviewing Editor Viji Santhakumar, Ph.D. selected this paper and explains why she considers it noteworthy.

This paper presents an elegant study examining neuronal activation in multiple brain regions involved in learning and consolidation of an alternation task. The simple approach provides insights into the time course and distribution of cell activation patterns during the learning and consolidation process. The authors then show that the same circuits engaged by the alternation task are also activated during an acute chemically induced seizure.

It is intriguing that they find overlap between cortical but not hippocampal cell ensembles activated by memory task and seizures. This regional specificity in potential for seizures to hijack memory ensembles can be of interest to a broad audience.

Read the full article:

Extrahippocampal Seizure and Memory Circuits Overlap
Aijaz Ahmad Naik, Anastasia Brodovskaya, Smriti Subedi, Amman Akram, and Jaideep Kapur