Figures
Unfolding the memory retrace in hippocampal replay
Hippocampal replay is the reactivation of neural activity patterns associated with past experience during awake rest and sleep. This image shows replay during sharp-wave ripples in a sleeping rat, with neural firing sequences linked to locations on a previously explored environment. Here, we introduce a probabilistic framework based on drift-diffusion dynamics to characterize how the spatial content of replay unfolds over time. Our framework helps clarify debates including replay speed, whether replay follows a random walk, and the strength of sequential activity before spatial experience. These results provide a new lens on the neural processes underlying spatial learning and memory (Wu and Wei, 2026).
Image Credit: Zhongxuan Wu
Citation: (2026) PLoS Computational Biology Issue Image | Vol. 22(9) October 2026. PLoS Comput Biol 22(9): ev22.i09. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pcbi.v22.i09
Published: October 5, 2026
Copyright: © 2026 . This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Hippocampal replay is the reactivation of neural activity patterns associated with past experience during awake rest and sleep. This image shows replay during sharp-wave ripples in a sleeping rat, with neural firing sequences linked to locations on a previously explored environment. Here, we introduce a probabilistic framework based on drift-diffusion dynamics to characterize how the spatial content of replay unfolds over time. Our framework helps clarify debates including replay speed, whether replay follows a random walk, and the strength of sequential activity before spatial experience. These results provide a new lens on the neural processes underlying spatial learning and memory (Wu and Wei, 2026).
Image Credit: Zhongxuan Wu