第1246回生物科学セミナー

The neuronal mechanisms of short-term memory

Hidehiko Inagaki(Karel Svoboda Lab, Janelia Research Campus, HHMI)

2018年12月05日(水)    15:00-16:30  理学部2号館 講堂   

Short-term memory, the ability to maintain information over times of seconds, is one of the
most fundamental functions of the brain. Neurons in the frontal cortex show persistent
changes in spiking activities during memory maintenance and these changes are neural
correlates of short-term memories. Interestingly, individual neurons in the brain are
essentially memory-less: they can maintain information only for tens of milliseconds. Thus,
short-term memory is an emergent property of neuronal networks. A variety of theoretical
models have been proposed to resolve this gap in time scales between individual neurons and
neuronal networks, yet the mechanisms of short-term memory remain unsolved. We
systematically investigated the mechanism underlying persistent spiking activity in mouse
frontal cortex, combining intracellular and extracellular electrophysiology with optogenetic
perturbations and network modeling. Our results support a model in which discrete attractor
dynamics underlie short-term memory. I will further discuss my long-term goal to develop a
mechanistic understanding of how internal brain states, such as thirst, hunger and the internal
clock, modify dynamics in the frontal cortex to influence cognitive functions.

参考文献
Inagaki HK, Fontolan L, Romani S, Svoboda K. (2017) Discrete attractor dynamics underlying selective
persistent activity in frontal cortex. bioRxiv. 203448; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/203448
Inagaki HK, Inagaki M, Romani S, Svoboda K. (2018) Low-dimensional and monotonic preparatoy activity in mouse
anterior lateral motor cortex. Journal of Neuroscience. 3152-17.
Guo ZV*, Inagaki HK*, (*equal contribution) Daie K, Druckmann S, Gerfen CR, Svoboda K. (2017) Maintenance
of persistent activity in a frontal thalamocortical loop. Nature (Article). 545: 181-186.