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Peer-reviewedCC BYNature Neuroscience

Replay of procedural memory is independent of the hippocampus

  • Emmett J. Thompson1
  • Lars B. Rollik1
  • Benjamin Waked1
  • Georgina Mills1
  • Sthitapranjya Pati1
  • Jasvin Kaur1
  • Ben Geva1
  • Haoyu Li1
  • R. Carrasco-Davis2
  • Tom M George1
  • Clémentine Dominé2
  • William Dorrell2
1 more authors
  • Marcus Stephenson‐Jones3
  1. 1Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London, London, UK
  2. 2Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London, London, UK
  3. 3Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London, London, UK. [email protected]
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Abstract

Sleep is crucial for consolidating all forms of memory and a core mechanism underlying this process is offline replay. Current models propose that replay originates in the hippocampus and triggers reactivation across cortical and subcortical networks. However, conflicting evidence about the role of the hippocampus in offline consolidation of nondeclarative memories raises the question of whether hippocampal replay drives their consolidation. Here we show that replay occurs in the dorsal striatum during offline consolidation of a procedural memory in mice, independently of the hippocampus, and that its content predicts subsequent performance improvements. Neural sequences linked to salient behavioral events were prioritized for replay, with positive and negative behavioral outcomes having opposing effects on individual replay events. All features of replay persisted despite complete bilateral hippocampal lesions. These findings demonstrate that procedural replay occurs independently of the hippocampus, indicating that replay-driven memory consolidation can operate through parallel, independent mechanisms.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{thompson2026replay,
  title = {{Replay of procedural memory is independent of the hippocampus}},
  author = {Emmett J. Thompson and Lars B. Rollik and Benjamin Waked and Georgina Mills and Sthitapranjya Pati and Jasvin Kaur and Ben Geva and Haoyu Li and R. Carrasco-Davis and Tom M George and Clémentine Dominé and William Dorrell and Marcus Stephenson‐Jones},
  journal = {Nature Neuroscience},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  doi = {10.1038/s41593-026-02362-5},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-026-02362-5},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Replay of procedural memory is independent of the hippocampus
AU  - Emmett J. Thompson
AU  - Lars B. Rollik
AU  - Benjamin Waked
AU  - Georgina Mills
AU  - Sthitapranjya Pati
AU  - Jasvin Kaur
AU  - Ben Geva
AU  - Haoyu Li
AU  - R. Carrasco-Davis
AU  - Tom M George
AU  - Clémentine Dominé
AU  - William Dorrell
AU  - Marcus Stephenson‐Jones
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/23
JO  - Nature Neuroscience
DO  - 10.1038/s41593-026-02362-5
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-026-02362-5
AB  - Sleep is crucial for consolidating all forms of memory and a core mechanism underlying this process is offline replay. Current models propose that replay originates in the hippocampus and triggers reactivation across cortical and subcortical networks. However, conflicting evidence about the role of the hippocampus in offline consolidation of nondeclarative memories raises the question of whether hippocampal replay drives their consolidation. Here we show that replay occurs in the dorsal striatum during offline consolidation of a procedural memory in mice, independently of the hippocampus, and that its content predicts subsequent performance improvements. Neural sequences linked to salient behavioral events were prioritized for replay, with positive and negative behavioral outcomes having opposing effects on individual replay events. All features of replay persisted despite complete bilateral hippocampal lesions. These findings demonstrate that procedural replay occurs independently of the hippocampus, indicating that replay-driven memory consolidation can operate through parallel, independent mechanisms.
SN  - 1097-6256
SN  - 1546-1726
ER  -