Remembering the Future

Previous research had shown that rats replayed specific brain firing sequences while sleeping.

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By measuring the amount and location of the hippocampus cell firing, the researchers were able to determine that [while awake] the neurons fired in the exact reverse order of the firing that occurred when the rat scurried from one end of the track to the other.

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"When awake, reverse replay occurs in situ, allowing immediately preceding events to be evaluated in precise temporal relation to a current anchoring event, and so may be an integral mechanism for learning about recent events,"

Topics: Memory | Learning