“Pattern Separation in the Hippocampus”, 2011-10 (; backlinks):
The ability to discriminate among similar experiences is a critical feature of episodic memory. This ability has long been hypothesized to require the hippocampus, with computational models suggesting it is dependent on pattern separation. However, empirical data for the hippocampus’ role in pattern separation was not available until recently.
This review summarizes data from electrophysiological recordings, lesion studies, immediate early gene imaging, transgenic mouse models, as well as human functional neuroimaging that provide convergent evidence for the involvement of particular hippocampal subfields in this key process.
We discuss the impact of aging and adult neurogenesis on pattern separation, as well as highlight several challenges to linking across species and approaches and suggest future directions for investigation.