Brain and Intelligence Lunch Seminar NO.37

On April 08, the 37th Brain and Intelligence Seminar was successfully held. This session specially invited principal investigator Dr. Cheng WANG as the speaker, who is from Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr. Cheng WANG delivered a talk titled “Coding of space and time in the episodic memory system”.

Dr. Wang highlighted that episodic memory—memory of events occurring at specific times and places—is a core cognitive function, yet the coding mechanisms of spatiotemporal information remain largely unknown. His team has been investigating the neural mechanisms underlying spatiotemporal cognition within the extended hippocampal memory system.

The talk focused on two key findings: First, egocentric spatial coding. Using in vivo single- and two-photon imaging, the team revealed functional properties of neurons in the retrosplenial cortex that encode egocentric spatial information of sensory inputs relative to oneself. They found significant functional clustering of egocentric tuning within dendrites, with distinct scenes recruiting independent populations of egocentric neurons—supporting the “labeled line coding” hypothesis. Second, state-dependent temporal coding in the hippocampus. The team discovered that hippocampal CA1 neurons simultaneously encode both spatial and temporal information in navigation and temporal perception tasks. Notably, a competitive-integrative relationship exists between spatial and temporal coding, showing a significant negative correlation that enhances the information content of the other dimension. The hippocampal CA3 region plays a key role in regulating this relationship.

These findings demonstrate that the hippocampus creates a dynamic neural map to adapt to changing spatiotemporal contexts, providing important insights into the neural basis of episodic memory and offering potential directions for treating memory-related disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

The Brain and Intelligence Seminar aims to promote subject integration and in-depth exchanges in the fields of brain science and artificial intelligence and create a relaxed and open academic exchange atmosphere for teachers and students to jointly discuss the cutting-edge scientific trends of brain and intelligence. We look forward to more experts, scholars and young talents joining us to jointly promote the prosperity and development of frontier fields related to brain and intelligence.