Cortical Reactivations Modulated by Local Inhibitory Circuits Mediate Memory Consolidation

Highly salient events activate neurons across various brain regions. During subsequent rest or sleep, the activity patterns of these neurons often correlate with those observed during the preceding experience. Growing evidence suggests that these reactivations play a crucial role in memory consolidation, the process by which experiences are solidified in cortical networks for long-term storage.

Here, we demonstrate that reactivations in the lateral visual cortex are vital for the consolidation of visual association learning. By employing longitudinal two-photon Ca ²⁺ imaging alongside paired LFP recordings in the hippocampus and cortex, we show that targeted manipulation of PV ⁺ inhibitory neurons in the lateral visual cortex after daily training selectively attenuated cue-specific reactivations and learning, with no apparent effect on normal network function during training. In contrast, reactivations in the control group were biased towards salient cues, aligned with learning process and persisted for hours after training had ended. Overall, our results underscore a crucial role for cortical reactivations in memory consolidation.