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Updated: May 21, 2025

Intra-Operative Behavioral Tasks in Awake Humans Undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery
Published on: January 6, 2011
Awake replay: off the clock but on the job
Matthijs A A van der Meer1, Daniel Bendor2
1Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
None:
Hippocampal replay is widely thought to support two key cognitive functions: online decision-making and offline memory consolidation. In this review, we take a closer look at the hypothesized link between awake replay and online decision-making in rodents, and find only marginal evidence in support of this role. By contrast, the consolidation view is bolstered by new computational ideas and recent data, suggesting that (i) replay performs offline fictive learning for later goal-oriented behavior; and (ii) replay tags memories prior to sleep, prioritizing them for consolidation. Based on these recent advances, we favor an updated and refined role for awake replay - that is, supporting prioritized offline learning and tagging outside the hippocampus - rather than a direct, online role in guiding behavior.
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