When less is more: How inhibition shapes learning and spatial memory formation

When less is more: How inhibition shapes learning and spatial memory formation

Nuri Jeong remembers the feeling of surprise she felt during a trip back to South Korea, while visiting her grandmother, who'd been grappling with Alzheimer's disease.

Inhibitory Neurons May Hold the Key to Spatial Learning and Memory

A new study explores how the brain quickly learns and remembers important locations by focusing not on excitatory neurons, but on inhibitory ones called parvalbumin interneurons (PVs). These PVs act like circuit breakers, briefly reducing their activity to allow learning-related neurons to strengthen connections. Using optogenetics and virtual reality mazes in mice, researchers found that learning was blocked when PV inhibition didn’t decrease a…