Cannabinoids reveal importance of spike timing coordination in hippocampal function
In vivo multi-unit recordings from rats reveal that cannabinoids desynchronize hippocampal neuron assemblies without affecting the average firing rate. The loss of synchrony correlates with cannabinoid-induced memory deficits in a hippocampus-dependent task.
This paper received quite some coverage in the popular press. Even the free rag metro NY (distributed on the subway here) covered it, with the fabulous headline “Baked neurons behind marijuana memory loss”.
(Thanks to Jan Theunissen from Nature Biotechnology for alerting me to the metro article.)
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