A hippocampal circuit linking dorsal CA2 to ventral CA1 critical for social memory dynamics
Open accessAbstract
Recent results suggest that social memory requires the dorsal hippocampal CA2 region as well as a subset of ventral CA1 neurons. However, it is unclear whether dorsal CA2 and ventral CA1 represent parallel or sequential circuits. Moreover, because evidence implicating CA2 in social memory comes largely from long-term inactivation experiments, the dynamic role of CA2 in social memory remains unclear. Here, we use pharmacogenetics and optogenetics in mice to acutely and reversibly silence dorsal CA2 and its projections to ventral hippocampus. We show that dorsal CA2 activity is critical for encoding, consolidation, and recall phases of social memory. Moreover, dorsal CA2 contributes to social memory by providing strong excitatory input to the same subregion of ventral CA1 that contains the subset of neurons implicated in social memory. Thus, our studies provide new insights into a dorsal CA2 to ventral CA1 circuit whose dynamic activity is necessary for social memory.
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The concept of sub-networks is analogous to activity in specific regions of the hippocampus in the human brain, which is involved in the formation of new memory.
“The concept of sub-networks is analogous to the activity in specific regions of the hippocampus in the human brain, which is involved in the formation of new memory [91, 293, 94].”
From Human-inspired Perspectives: A Survey on AI Long-term Memory (2024) · cites this paper as [94]
The Introduction describes distinct hippocampal subregions involved in aspects of memory, and the Abstract reports that dorsal CA2 activity is critical for encoding social memory. The experiments were in mice, however, so this paper does not establish the claim about activity in specific regions of the human hippocampus; the sub-network analogy is the citing authors’ framing. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe dorsal CA2 is the key centre for encoding, consolidation and recall phases of social memory.
“The dorsal CA2 is the key centre for encoding, consolidation and recall phases of social memory [125–128].”
From The extracellular matrix and perineuronal nets in memory (2022) · cites this paper as [126]
Compared to non-parametric memory, the characteristics of parametric memory storing information implicitly within AI models are more akin to how the human brain produces new neurons or undergoes chemical changes.
“Furthermore, compared to non-parametric memory, the characteristics of parametric memory storing information implicitly within AI models are more akin to how the human brain produces new neurons or undergoes chemical changes [91, 93, 293, 94].”
From Human-inspired Perspectives: A Survey on AI Long-term Memory (2024) · cites this paper as [94]
The Discussion describes a mouse hippocampal circuit involved in social memory, but does not compare brain memory with parametric or non-parametric AI memory. Searches for new neurons, chemical changes, neurogenesis, and synaptic plasticity did not find a passage supporting the proposed analogy. (LLM, conf=0.76)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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Cites
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- Authors
- Meira, T., Leroy, F., Buss, E. W., Oliva, A., Park, J., & Siegelbaum, S. A.
- Affiliations
- Columbia University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Siegelbaum, Steven A.
- Venue
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2018-10-09
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 4163-4163
- ISSN
- 2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6178349
- OpenAlex
- W2895687586
- Cited by
- 310
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 29 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 53 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 13.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- European Molecular Biology Organization
- National Institutes of Health (2r01mh104602-11, TL1TR001875)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01-MH104602, R01MH106629, T32MH015174)
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
- Keywords
- social memory, hippocampal circuitry, memory encoding, memory consolidation, memory retrieval, pharmacogenetics, optogenetics
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Male, Memory, Mice, Inbred BALB C, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Nerve Net, Nucleus Accumbens, Social Behavior, Pyramidal Cells, Gene Silencing, CA1 Region, Hippocampal, CA2 Region, Hippocampal
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