Exploring the Corticalization of Memories: Electrophysiological Markers of Memory Consolidation in the Barnes Maze Task

The two-stage memory system model suggests that declarative memories are initially stored in the hippocampus and later transferred and stabilized in associative neocortical regions, a process known as memory corticalization. According to this model, the sleep period is essential for memory consolidation. The active system consolidation hypothesis suggests that during NREM sleep, hippocampal sharp-wave ripples (SWRs), associated with memory trace reactivation, along with thalamocortical Delta-Spindles, lead to the reorganization of neocortical neural networks and memory consolidation. Subsequently, REM sleep stabilizes memory representations by consolidating relevant synaptic connections. However, the communication between the hippocampus and associative neocortical regions and the mechanisms involved in the transference and consolidation of memory traces remain unclear.