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Updated: Jun 11, 2025

Simultaneous Monitoring of Wireless Electrophysiology and Memory Behavioral Test as a Tool to Study Hippocampal Neurogenesis
Published on: August 20, 2020
Theta phase precession supports memory formation and retrieval of naturalistic experience in humans
Jie Zheng1,2,3,4, Mar Yebra1, Andrea G P Schjetnan5
1Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Abstract:
Associating different aspects of experience with discrete events is critical for human memory. A potential mechanism for linking memory components is phase precession, during which neurons fire progressively earlier in time relative to theta oscillations. However, no direct link between phase precession and memory has been established. Here we recorded single-neuron activity and local field potentials in the human medial temporal lobe while participants (n = 22) encoded and retrieved memories of movie clips. Bouts of theta and phase precession occurred following cognitive boundaries during movie watching and following stimulus onsets during memory retrieval. Phase precession was dynamic, with different neurons exhibiting precession in different task periods. Phase precession strength provided information about memory encoding and retrieval success that was complementary with firing rates. These data provide direct neural evidence for a functional role of phase precession in human episodic memory.
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