13 May 2010
In the May issue of Trends in Neurosciences, on pages 220-229, authors O'Neill et al. highlight emerging evidence suggesting that sharp wave/ripple events in the hippocampus coordinate the reactivation of memory traces. The cover image depicts a representationof reactivation during sleep. The background image shows a closed eye with traces of sleep-associated local fieldpotentials, to represent sleep. The place fields of four cells are illustrated, of which the blue and red cells show overlappingfields. During sleep these waking patterns are reactivated, through the joint firing of the blue and red cells. This reactivationis depicted in the foreground, by the joint firing of the red and blue pyramidal cells. Cover credit: Ben Micklem