Parallel maturation of rodent hippocampal memory and CA1 task representations

Hippocampal-dependent memory is known to emerge late in ontogeny, and its full development is protracted. Yet the changes in hippocampal neuronal function that underlie this delayed and gradual maturation remain relatively unexplored. To address this gap, we recorded ensembles of CA1 neurons while charting the development of hippocampal-dependent spatial working memory (WM) in rat pups (∼2-4 weeks of age). We found a sharp transition in WM development, with age of inflection varying considerably between individual animals. In parallel with the sudden emergence of WM, hippocampal spatial representations became abruptly task specific, remapping between encoding and retrieval phases of the task. Further, we show how the development of task-phase remapping could partly be explained by changes in place-field size during this developmental period as well as the onset of precise temporal coordination of CA1 excitatory input. Together, these results suggest that a hallmark of hippocampal memory development may be the emergence of contextually specific CA1 representations driven by the maturation of CA1 micro-circuits.