Abstract
Sleep is crucial for consolidating all forms of memory and a core mechanism underlying this process is offline replay. Current models propose that replay originates in the hippocampus and triggers reactivation across cortical and subcortical networks. However, conflicting evidence about the role of the hippocampus in offline consolidation of nondeclarative memories raises the question of whether hippocampal replay drives their consolidation. Here we show that replay occurs in the dorsal striatum during offline consolidation of a procedural memory in mice, independently of the hippocampus, and that its content predicts subsequent performance improvements. Neural sequences linked to salient behavioral events were prioritized for replay, with positive and negative behavioral outcomes having opposing effects on individual replay events. All features of replay persisted despite complete bilateral hippocampal lesions. These findings demonstrate that procedural replay occurs independently of the hippocampus, indicating that replay-driven memory consolidation can operate through parallel, independent mechanisms.
Emmett J. Thompson, Lars B. Rollik, Benjamin Waked, Georgina Mills, Sthitapranjya Pati, Jasvin Kaur, Ben Geva, Haoyu Li, Rodrigo Carrasco-Davis, Tom George, Clementine Domine, William Dorrell & Marcus Stephenson-Jone. Replay of procedural memory is independent of the hippocampus. Nature Neuroscience, 2026-07. [LINK]
Speaker: Lan Wang
Time: 9:00 am, 2026/08/17
Location: CIBR A622
