When animals are in an off-line, non-locomotor behavioral state, neuronal activity in the hippocampus is thought to be largely disengaged from the present setting to enable cognitive mechanisms such as memory consolidation and planning. But how does the brain re-engage with the present surroundings during this behavioral state and permit access to current sensory information or promote new memory formation? I will present recent results that indicate that dentate spikes may support associative memory during non-locomotor behavior, extending the repertoire of cognitive processes beyond the classical “off-line” functions. The implications of these findings for brain disorders will also be discussed. In the second part of the talk, I will outline new ideas for GABAergic regulation of the small irregular activity or “junk LFP” during rest. Finally, I will show new evidence that suggests that a rarely studied part of the hippocampus, the Fasciola cinereum, may play surprisingly significant roles as a novel site of seizure onset and target for interventions in temporal lobe epilepsy in both mice and humans.

About the Speaker: Ivan Soltesz, PhD, is James R Doty Professor of Neurosurgery & Neurosciences at Stanford University. Work in the Soltesz lab investigates inhibitory microcircuits with a focus on communication between neuron types – in both normal conditions and those in epilepsy. Read more about Ivan Soltesz and work in his team here – https://www.solteszlab.com/.

This talk is hosted by A02 AG Schmitz

Certificate of attendance: Please contact SFB1315.ifb(at)hu-berlin.de

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