The global record of memory in hippocampal neuronal activity

The hippocampal area of the brain in humans is essential for declarative or episodic memory, but there is controversy over whether the hippocampus mediates similar general memory functions in other species. Rats were trained to perform recognition memory tasks and it was found that hippocampal neuron activity was consistently linked to perceptual, behavioural or cognitive events, regardless of the location of the events, suggesting that non-spatial events are fundamental to hippocampal representation.