Figure 2.

A Schematic of the Current Framework. (A) In the absence of external input, high alpha power is evident in the neocortex (NC), with NC neurons firing at a low rate. In this state, the NC neurons have little impact on their downstream neurons in the hippocampus. long-term potentiation (LTP)/long-term depression (LTD) is regulated by the theta phase, whereby, in the absence of input, the synaptic connections become weakened (LTD). (B) Input reduces the (effective) firing threshold for stimulation-specific populations in the NC, which, in this case, respond to two stimuli. On the population level, neuronal firing increases, which leads to a decrease in synchrony and alpha power. The increased firing in the two NC populations of neurons would in turn reduce the (effective) firing threshold of their hippocampal stimulation-specific downstream neurons, causing phase precession (indicated by arrows) and hence LTP, which then forms an association between the two stimuli. Note that the phase of theta changes depending on which hippocampal subregion it is recorded from [29], being 180^o phase shifted between the hippocampal fissure and CA1/CA3. We here plot theta as would be recorded in CA1 (and CA3), in keeping with studies that showed LTP to occur at the peak (+) and LTD to occur at the trough (−) of theta ⁵³, ⁵⁵. Moreover, as presented here, the peak of theta is in fact the functionally inhibitory phase, while its trough is the functionally excitatory phase.