Prefrontal control of hippocampal map reorganization during sleep
- 1Institute of Neurobiology / University of Tuebingen
Abstract
During wakefulness, exposure to novel experiences induces hippocampal remapping, in which place cell ensembles reorganize to form distinct representations of new information. Classical models of systems consolidation posit that subsequent sleep stabilizes these wake-formed representations and supports their gradual transfer to medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) networks primarily via bottom-up hippocampal reactivations. Using miniscope Ca2+ imaging of CA1 place cells, we monitored hippocampal activity as mice explored a familiar environment followed by a similar novel one. As expected, place cells remapped in the novel context. However, a single episode of post-encoding sleep selectively reversed remapping dynamics by promoting the reinstatement of familiar place cell representations in the novel environment, an effect that was absent in the wake condition. This neural reinstatement was accompanied by behavioral indicators of familiarity, including reduced exploration and rearing. Chemogenetic inactivation of the mPFC during post-encoding sleep abolished this generalization effect, and instead preserved the novel hippocampal map. Thus, our results extend current models by showing that sleep not only consolidates wake-established hippocampal patterns, but actively shapes hippocampal maps via prefrontal control, thereby supporting memory generalization.
Related
- Prefrontal Glx Reduction during the Sleep Transition Is Associated with Sleep-Onset Latency
- Acute lysergic acid diethylamide induces a time-dependent shift toward hippocampal control of default mode network reorganization
- Hippocampal CA1 neurons are crucial for sleep-associated memory formation in humans: The role of theta power during NREM sleep
- Prefrontal Transfer Entropy, But Not Spectral Power, Tracks Preservation of Positive Affect During Sleep Deprivation
- Claustral pathway coordinates distributed cortical dynamics with hippocampal output during sleep to promote memory consolidation
BibTeX
@misc{huang2026prefrontal,
title = {{Prefrontal control of hippocampal map reorganization during sleep}},
author = {R. Huang and M. Nakano and C. Clopath and J. Born and T. Bartsch and M. Both and E. Blanco-Hernandez and A. Burgalossi},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.15.751737},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.15.751737v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Prefrontal control of hippocampal map reorganization during sleep
AU - R. Huang
AU - M. Nakano
AU - C. Clopath
AU - J. Born
AU - T. Bartsch
AU - M. Both
AU - E. Blanco-Hernandez
AU - A. Burgalossi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/15
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.15.751737
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.15.751737v1
AB - During wakefulness, exposure to novel experiences induces hippocampal remapping, in which place cell ensembles reorganize to form distinct representations of new information. Classical models of systems consolidation posit that subsequent sleep stabilizes these wake-formed representations and supports their gradual transfer to medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) networks primarily via bottom-up hippocampal reactivations. Using miniscope Ca2+ imaging of CA1 place cells, we monitored hippocampal activity as mice explored a familiar environment followed by a similar novel one. As expected, place cells remapped in the novel context. However, a single episode of post-encoding sleep selectively reversed remapping dynamics by promoting the reinstatement of familiar place cell representations in the novel environment, an effect that was absent in the wake condition. This neural reinstatement was accompanied by behavioral indicators of familiarity, including reduced exploration and rearing. Chemogenetic inactivation of the mPFC during post-encoding sleep abolished this generalization effect, and instead preserved the novel hippocampal map. Thus, our results extend current models by showing that sleep not only consolidates wake-established hippocampal patterns, but actively shapes hippocampal maps via prefrontal control, thereby supporting memory generalization.
ER -