Interaction Between the Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus in Memory Storage and Retrieval

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2016) | Viewed by 67417

Special Issue Editor

School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, TX 75080, USA
Interests: prefrontal cortex; schizophrenia; drug addiction; working memory; catecholamines
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The formation, storage and retrieval of memories is critical for normal adaptive functioning, including the execution of goal-directed behavior, problem solving and decision-making. The prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus are part of integrated networks that also include the thalamus, amygdala and striatum, which regulate both executive functions and the storage and retrieval of long-term memories. The prefrontal cortex relies on the hippocampus to recall past behavioral and emotional responses to develop adaptive strategies support rapid learning and memory consolidation. Dysfunctions within this network contribute to a variety of cognitive, addictive, mood, and developmental disorders.

This Special Issue will present and discuss the neural processes by which the interaction between the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus leads to memory formation, and how the prefrontal cortex uses these memories to integrate information regarding salience, value, and contextual information associated with appetitive and aversive outcome during memory retrieval under normal and pathophysiological conditions.

Dr. Sven Kroener
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • prefrontal cortex
  • hippocampus
  • memory
  • plasticity
  • neuropsychiatric disorders

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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1182 KiB  
Article
The Anterior Prefrontal Cortex and the Hippocampus Are Negatively Correlated during False Memories
by Brittany M. Jeye, Jessica M. Karanian and Scott D. Slotnick
Brain Sci. 2017, 7(1), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7010013 - 23 Jan 2017
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6667
Abstract
False memories commonly activate the anterior/dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (A/DLPFC) and the hippocampus. These regions are assumed to work in concert during false memories, which would predict a positive correlation between the magnitudes of activity in these regions across participants. However, the A/DLPFC may [...] Read more.
False memories commonly activate the anterior/dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (A/DLPFC) and the hippocampus. These regions are assumed to work in concert during false memories, which would predict a positive correlation between the magnitudes of activity in these regions across participants. However, the A/DLPFC may also inhibit the hippocampus, which would predict a negative correlation between the magnitudes of activity in these regions. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, during encoding, participants viewed abstract shapes in the left or right visual field. During retrieval, participants classified each old shape as previously in the “left” or “right” visual field followed by an “unsure”–“sure”–“very sure” confidence rating. The contrast of left-hits and left-misses produced two activations in the hippocampus and three activations in the left A/DLPFC. For each participant, activity associated with false memories (right–“left”–“very sure” responses) from the two hippocampal regions was plotted as a function of activity in each A/DLPFC region. Across participants, for one region in the left anterior prefrontal cortex, there was a negative correlation between the magnitudes of activity in this region and the hippocampus. This suggests that the anterior prefrontal cortex might inhibit the hippocampus during false memories and that participants engage either the anterior prefrontal cortex or the hippocampus during false memories. Full article
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1229 KiB  
Article
Preconditioning of Spatial and Auditory Cues: Roles of the Hippocampus, Frontal Cortex, and Cue-Directed Attention
by Andrew C. Talk, Katrina L. Grasby, Tim Rawson and Jane L. Ebejer
Brain Sci. 2016, 6(4), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci6040063 - 19 Dec 2016
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5095
Abstract
Loss of function of the hippocampus or frontal cortex is associated with reduced performance on memory tasks, in which subjects are incidentally exposed to cues at specific places in the environment and are subsequently asked to recollect the location at which the cue [...] Read more.
Loss of function of the hippocampus or frontal cortex is associated with reduced performance on memory tasks, in which subjects are incidentally exposed to cues at specific places in the environment and are subsequently asked to recollect the location at which the cue was experienced. Here, we examined the roles of the rodent hippocampus and frontal cortex in cue-directed attention during encoding of memory for the location of a single incidentally experienced cue. During a spatial sensory preconditioning task, rats explored an elevated platform while an auditory cue was incidentally presented at one corner. The opposite corner acted as an unpaired control location. The rats demonstrated recollection of location by avoiding the paired corner after the auditory cue was in turn paired with shock. Damage to either the dorsal hippocampus or the frontal cortex impaired this memory ability. However, we also found that hippocampal lesions enhanced attention directed towards the cue during the encoding phase, while frontal cortical lesions reduced cue-directed attention. These results suggest that the deficit in spatial sensory preconditioning caused by frontal cortical damage may be mediated by inattention to the location of cues during the latent encoding phase, while deficits following hippocampal damage must be related to other mechanisms such as generation of neural plasticity. Full article
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Review

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693 KiB  
Review
Dynamic Hippocampal and Prefrontal Contributions to Memory Processes and Representations Blur the Boundaries of Traditional Cognitive Domains
by Rachael D. Rubin, Hillary Schwarb, Heather D. Lucas, Michael R. Dulas and Neal J. Cohen
Brain Sci. 2017, 7(7), 82; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7070082 - 12 Jul 2017
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 11257
Abstract
The hippocampus has long been known to be a critical component of the memory system involved in the formation and use of long-term declarative memory. However, recent findings have revealed that the reach of hippocampal contributions extends to a variety of domains and [...] Read more.
The hippocampus has long been known to be a critical component of the memory system involved in the formation and use of long-term declarative memory. However, recent findings have revealed that the reach of hippocampal contributions extends to a variety of domains and tasks that require the flexible use of cognitive and social behavior, including domains traditionally linked to prefrontal cortex (PFC), such as decision-making. In addition, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) has gained traction as a necessary part of the memory system. These findings challenge the conventional characterizations of hippocampus and PFC as being circumscribed to traditional cognitive domains. Here, we emphasize that the ability to parsimoniously account for the breadth of hippocampal and PFC contributions to behavior, in terms of memory function and beyond, requires theoretical advances in our understanding of their characteristic processing features and mental representations. Notably, several literatures exist that touch upon this issue, but have remained disjointed because of methodological differences that necessarily limit the scope of inquiry, as well as the somewhat artificial boundaries that have been historically imposed between domains of cognition. In particular, this article focuses on the contribution of relational memory theory as an example of a framework that describes both the representations and processes supported by the hippocampus, and further elucidates the role of the hippocampal–PFC network to a variety of behaviors. Full article
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273 KiB  
Review
Working Memory in the Prefrontal Cortex
by Shintaro Funahashi
Brain Sci. 2017, 7(5), 49; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7050049 - 27 Apr 2017
Cited by 186 | Viewed by 19545
Abstract
The prefrontal cortex participates in a variety of higher cognitive functions. The concept of working memory is now widely used to understand prefrontal functions. Neurophysiological studies have revealed that stimulus-selective delay-period activity is a neural correlate of the mechanism for temporarily maintaining information [...] Read more.
The prefrontal cortex participates in a variety of higher cognitive functions. The concept of working memory is now widely used to understand prefrontal functions. Neurophysiological studies have revealed that stimulus-selective delay-period activity is a neural correlate of the mechanism for temporarily maintaining information in working memory processes. The central executive, which is the master component of Baddeley’s working memory model and is thought to be a function of the prefrontal cortex, controls the performance of other components by allocating a limited capacity of memory resource to each component based on its demand. Recent neurophysiological studies have attempted to reveal how prefrontal neurons achieve the functions of the central executive. For example, the neural mechanisms of memory control have been examined using the interference effect in a dual-task paradigm. It has been shown that this interference effect is caused by the competitive and overloaded recruitment of overlapping neural populations in the prefrontal cortex by two concurrent tasks and that the information-processing capacity of a single neuron is limited to a fixed level, can be flexibly allocated or reallocated between two concurrent tasks based on their needs, and enhances behavioral performance when its allocation to one task is increased. Further, a metamemory task requiring spatial information has been used to understand the neural mechanism for monitoring its own operations, and it has been shown that monitoring the quality of spatial information represented by prefrontal activity is an important factor in the subject's choice and that the strength of spatially selective delay-period activity reflects confidence in decision-making. Although further studies are needed to elucidate how the prefrontal cortex controls memory resource and supervises other systems, some important mechanisms related to the central executive have been identified. Full article
2099 KiB  
Review
Integrating Spatial Working Memory and Remote Memory: Interactions between the Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus
by Ryan A. Wirt and James M. Hyman
Brain Sci. 2017, 7(4), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7040043 - 18 Apr 2017
Cited by 60 | Viewed by 11029
Abstract
In recent years, two separate research streams have focused on information sharing between the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus (HC). Research into spatial working memory has shown that successful execution of many types of behaviors requires synchronous activity in the theta range [...] Read more.
In recent years, two separate research streams have focused on information sharing between the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus (HC). Research into spatial working memory has shown that successful execution of many types of behaviors requires synchronous activity in the theta range between the mPFC and HC, whereas studies of memory consolidation have shown that shifts in area dependency may be temporally modulated. While the nature of information that is being communicated is still unclear, spatial working memory and remote memory recall is reliant on interactions between these two areas. This review will present recent evidence that shows that these two processes are not as separate as they first appeared. We will also present a novel conceptualization of the nature of the medial prefrontal representation and how this might help explain this area’s role in spatial working memory and remote memory recall. Full article
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929 KiB  
Review
The Interplay of Hippocampus and Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex in Memory-Based Decision Making
by Regina A. Weilbächer and Sebastian Gluth
Brain Sci. 2017, 7(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7010004 - 29 Dec 2016
Cited by 50 | Viewed by 12919
Abstract
Episodic memory and value-based decision making are two central and intensively studied research domains in cognitive neuroscience, but we are just beginning to understand how they interact to enable memory-based decisions. The two brain regions that have been associated with episodic memory and [...] Read more.
Episodic memory and value-based decision making are two central and intensively studied research domains in cognitive neuroscience, but we are just beginning to understand how they interact to enable memory-based decisions. The two brain regions that have been associated with episodic memory and value-based decision making are the hippocampus and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, respectively. In this review article, we first give an overview of these brain–behavior associations and then focus on the mechanisms of potential interactions between the hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex that have been proposed and tested in recent neuroimaging studies. Based on those possible interactions, we discuss several directions for future research on the neural and cognitive foundations of memory-based decision making. Full article
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