From single units to local field potentials: Study of the timing of medial temporal lobe responses in humans

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It has been shown that neurons in the human ‘hippocampus‘, an area at the end of the pathway for processing sensory information, respond significantly later than in monkeys. A possible explanation is that this is due to the fact that humans process sensory stimuli much further to create abstract concepts and associations. But how does the brain keep the timing of these responses? How do these neurons know when to fire?To address this question, I will use recordings with intracranial electrodes placed in the brain of epileptic patients for clinical reasons. I will thoroughly study the temporal dynamics of the neural responses both in terms of the firing of individual neurons and the average activity of a large number of neurons, leading to the so called Local Field Potentials (LFPs). Particularly, I will explore whether the LFPs provide the timing information in the areas under study. Using different experimental manipulations, I will explore the consequences in the neural responses of variations of the timing for recognition and given that these areas are critical for memory storage, these finding may have long term relevance for improving our understanding on memory formation and memory disorders, such as Alzheimer‘s disease.