Hippocampo-cortical dynamics underlying memory formation and consolidation, by Michaël Zugaro

Summary Hippocampo-cortical dynamics underlying memory formation and consolidation

The hippocampus is a limbic structure that plays a critical role in the formation, consolidation and recall of various forms of memory, including episodic and spatial memory. How do such complex cognitive functions emerge from the activity of hippocampal neurons and their interactions with cortical and subcortical structures? One key property of the hippocampal network that has gained tremendous interest in recent years is its ability to encode and reactivate sequential activity patterns: specific subgroups of neurons become successively active, either in response to the ongoing behavioral and cognitive context, or spontaneously during recall, decision making and sleep.

Our research has contributed to establish that in the spatial domain, fast sequential activation of hippocampal ‘place cells’ appears to underlie certain forms of spatial learning, and that during subsequent sleep, reactivation of the same sequences plays a critical role in memory consolidation via a hippocampo-cortical dialogue.

Short biography

From 1997 to 2001, Michaël Zugaro studied the role of multisensory interactions in the directional cells of the rat head freely moving under the direction of Sidney Wiener in the laboratory of Alain Berthoz (Collège de France, Paris).

From 2001 to 2005, he did his postdoctoral work in Gyuri Buzsáki Lab, where he studied the network mechanisms underlying the emergence of hippocampal place cell sequences.

These sequences have since been at the center of his work at the Collège de France as a team leader within the CIRB (Collège de France) in Paris. Visit the BR&NCM site

1995.   Engineer in Mathematics and Computer Science (Compiègne University of Technology)

2001.   PhD in Neuroscience (Advisors: S. Wiener and A. Berthoz)

2002.   Post-doctoral fellow in G. Buzsáki’s laboratory

2006.   Researcher (CNRS)

2010.   Team Leader (Collège de France)

2015.   Research Director (CNRS)

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