Dion Khodagholy and colleagues have observed coordination between high-frequency oscillations (or brain waves) called "ripples" in the rat hippocampus and parts of the brain called the association cortex. These ripples may help explicit memories (conscious memory of facts and information) transition from the hippocampus to the association cortex, where they are stored as long-term memories. The researchers observed the ripples using a microelectrode array called NeuroGrid that monitored neural activity at multiple sites within the rat brain. With this method, they were able to trace which parts of the association cortex were coordinating their ripples with hippocampal ripples, and demonstrated that this coupling was strengthened during sleep after learning.
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Science