ABSTRACT
In this model, the primary locus for encoding of associations was in region CA3 of the hippocampal formation. Two features of region CA3 make it particularly appealing as the locus for storage of episodic memory: (1) the convergence of multimodal sensory information on this region means that strengthening of synapses here could provide associative links between distinct sensory stimuli without any strong prior associative link, e.g. between the word “dishtowel” and the word “locomotive”; (2) the capacity for rapidly inducing large changes in size of synaptic potentials (long-term potentiation) at the excitatory connections between neurons in this region suggests that this region can more rapidly encode associations than many other pathways. As an initial example, we will consider the role of hippocampal region CA3 in paired associate memory function (Hasselmo & Wyble, 1997), separately considering the dynamics necessary for encoding and retrieval (although, as noted later, these encoding and retrieval dynamics could occur rapidly within short time periods).
