# Parietal memory representations as a window into hippocampal learning

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF OREGON · 2022 · $282,777

## Abstract

The hippocampus is essential for forming long-lasting episodic memories. Yet, patterns of hippocampal activity
associated with an individual event continue to change with experience and learning. What consequence do
these changes have for the underlying memory representations? In rodents, the phenomenon of hippocampal
pattern change has been termed `remapping' and has most typically been reported in place cells. This allows
for remapping to be directly related to spatial coding of the environment. In humans, however, it is less clear
how reconfiguration of hippocampal activity patterns (remapping-like phenomena) translates to specific
changes in memory representations. Potentially, changes in hippocampal activity patterns reflect changes in
the specific features that, when bound together, comprise a memory.
The goal of the proposed research is to gain insight into how and why hippocampal activity patterns (and
memories more generally) change with learning. We will address this by developing and leveraging innovative
and highly-sensitive pattern-based fMRI methods that map specific features of a memory to patterns of cortical
activity. In particular, we will use these methods to reconstruct images from memory and to read out the
semantic components of memories. This will allow us to measure how individual features of a memory change
with learning and to test whether cortically-expressed feature changes are predicted by remapping-like
phenomena in the hippocampus. We will specifically target feature representations in lateral parietal cortex,
motivated by accumulating evidence that lateral parietal cortex actively represents the contents of memory and
is functionally coupled with the hippocampus.
The proposed research will bridge rodent and human models of memory while introducing conceptual
approaches and analysis methods that have the potential to significantly advance the field. Because the
specific brain regions that will be targeted in the research (the hippocampus and lateral parietal cortex) are
frequently implicated in disease- and stroke-related memory impairments, the proposed research will also
support critical foundational knowledge that has the potential to guide clinical interventions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10368985
- **Project number:** 5R01NS107727-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
- **Principal Investigator:** BRICE Alan KUHL
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $282,777
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-06-15 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10368985

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10368985, Parietal memory representations as a window into hippocampal learning (5R01NS107727-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10368985. Licensed CC0.

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