Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2011 May 26;70(4):589-96.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.05.010.

Resolving new memories: a critical look at the dentate gyrus, adult neurogenesis, and pattern separation

James B Aimone  1 , Wei Deng, Fred H Gage
Affiliations
Review

Resolving new memories: a critical look at the dentate gyrus, adult neurogenesis, and pattern separation

James B Aimone et al. Neuron. .

Abstract

Recently, investigation of new neurons in memory formation has focused on a specific function-pattern separation. However, it has been difficult to reconcile the form of separation tested in behavioral tasks with how it is conceptualized according to computational and electrophysiology perspectives. Here, we propose a memory resolution hypothesis that considers the unique information contributions of broadly tuned young neurons and highly specific mature neurons and describe how the fidelity of memories can relate to spatial and contextual discrimination. See the related Perspective from Sahay, Wilson, and Hen, "Pattern Separation: A Common Function for New Neurons in Hippocampus and Olfactory Bulb," in this issue of Neuron.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Summary of the basis for the pattern separation hypothesis
A. Mechanism of DG pattern separation (sparse coding, high inhibition, strong sparse MF synapses) B. Cartoon of computational pattern separation. C. Example of behavioral pattern separation. D. Example of in vivo electrophysiology pattern separation
Figure 2
Figure 2. Cartoon demonstration of how memory resolution can lead to discrimination
A. Cartoon example of “remembered” event. B. Task where A is being compared with a foil event. C. Low resolution “memory” of A impairs discrimination. D. High resolution “memory” of A enables discrimination. E. High resolution “memory” of real-world objects. F. Low resolution “memory” of objects. G. Discrimination is easier with high resolution memory
Figure 3
Figure 3. Cartoon depiction of how neurogenesis would affect memory resolution of novel and familiar features
A. Immature GCs provide a complete yet low-information representation of experienced features. B. Mature GCs provide an incomplete yet high-information representation. C. Combination of mature and immature GCs provides a complete representation while preserving low correlations and overall information content. D. Maturation converts young GCs into high information neurons specific for experienced events
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aimone JB, Deng W, Gage FH. Adult neurogenesis: integrating theories and separating functions. Trends Cogn Sci. 2010a;14:325–337. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aimone JB, Deng W, Gage FH. Put them out to pasture? What are old granule cells good for, anyway…? Hippocampus. 2010b;20:1124–1125. - PubMed
    1. Aimone JB, Gage FH. Modeling new neuron function: a history of using computational neuroscience to study adult neurogenesis. Eur J Neurosci. 2011;33:1160–1169. - PubMed
    1. Aimone JB, Wiles J, Gage FH. Potential role for adult neurogenesis in the encoding of time in new memories. Nat Neurosci. 2006;9:723–727. - PubMed
    1. Aimone JB, Wiles J, Gage FH. Computational influence of adult neurogenesis on memory encoding. Neuron. 2009;61:187–202. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types