Hippocampal place cell firing patterns reflect fearful experiences

Scientists from Bayor College of Medicine and Rice University (both TX, USA) have investigated hippocampal place cells in rats to understand their role in fearful memory retrieval. The results, published in Nature Neuroscience, show that place cell firing patterns correlate with both fearful place avoidance and recollection of fearful memories from a specific location. Understanding how the brain retains fearful memories may provide insight into how memory fails in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers learnt that when a rat is in a particular place, hippocampal place cells, which are significant in episodic memory, produce pulses of electrical activity....