The vast majority of research on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the storage and retrieval of memories has focused on the excitatory glutamatergic neurons that convey signals into and throughout the brain. However, recent research has revealed the importance of widespread oscillations in neural network activity (particularly gamma and theta frequencies) in cognition. In this episode Professor Dietmar Schmitz talks about features of short- and long-range neural connectivity and their roles in cognition with a focus on inhibitory GABAergic interneurons. Different subtypes of GABAergic neurons have different molecular signatures, shapes, electrophysiological properties, and connectivity patterns. These different GABAergic neurons serve specific functions in memory, and information processing.

LINKS:

Schmitz lab page: https://schmitz.neurocure.de/

GABAergic interneurons and memory:

https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0896-6273%2823%2900475-0

microcircuits and spatial coding:

https://journals.physiology.org/doi/epdf/10.1152/physrev.00042.2020

hippocampal CA3 module:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10861929/pdf/pnas.202312281.pdf