Linking hippocampal CA3 sequences and spatial representations

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The hippocampus is a brain area involved in the formation of autobiographic episodic memories. Physiologically, in the rodent brain, memory episodes are paralleled by multiple types of activity sequences. Recently, it it has been proposed that during some of these sequences there is preplay of future novel experiences. While this idea is highly controversial, in this proposal, we ask how would such an idea actually be mechanistically realized. If activity sequences are present prior to spatial representations, space must somehow be mapped to the sequence. Here we suggest a learning mechanism for feed forward synapses connecting theta sequences and spike-timing dependent plasticity in hippocampal area CA3 that can solve this problem. The predictions of the model will be tested by analysis of experimental data from a collaborating laboratory.