Replay of procedural memory is independent of the hippocampus

Sleep is crucial for consolidating all forms of memory and a core mechanism underlying this process is offline replay. Current models propose that replay originates in the hippocampus and triggers reactivation across cortical and subcortical networks. However, conflicting evidence about the role of the hippocampus in offline consolidation of nondeclarative memories raises the question of whether hippocampal replay drives their consolidation. Here we show that replay occurs in the dorsal striatum during offline consolidation of a procedural memory in mice, independently of the hippocampus, and that its content predicts subsequent performance improvements. Neural sequences linked to salient behavioral events were prioritized for replay, with positive and negative behavioral outcomes having opposing effects on individual replay events. All features of replay persisted despite complete bilateral hippocampal lesions. These findings demonstrate that procedural replay occurs independently of the hippocampus, indicating that replay-driven memory consolidation can operate through parallel, independent mechanisms.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Neuroscience
Published
2026-07-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-026-02362-5
Primary Topic
Sleep and Wakefulness Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Replay of procedural memory is independent of the hippocampus

William Dorrell, R. Carrasco-Davis, Hui Li, Marcus Stephenson‐Jones et al.
Nature Neuroscience
Sleep and Wakefulness Research
article

Replay of procedural memory is independent of the hippocampus

William Dorrell, R. Carrasco-Davis, Hui Li, Marcus Stephenson‐Jones, Lars Rollik, Clementine Domine, Benjamin Waked, Ben Geva, Jasvin Kaur, Emmett Thompson, Sthitapranjya Pati, Georgina Mills, Tom George
article en

Abstract

Sleep is crucial for consolidating all forms of memory and a core mechanism underlying this process is offline replay. Current models propose that replay originates in the hippocampus and triggers reactivation across cortical and subcortical networks. However, conflicting evidence about the role of the hippocampus in offline consolidation of nondeclarative memories raises the question of whether hippocampal replay drives their consolidation. Here we show that replay occurs in the dorsal striatum during offline consolidation of a procedural memory in mice, independently of the hippocampus, and that its content predicts subsequent performance improvements. Neural sequences linked to salient behavioral events were prioritized for replay, with positive and negative behavioral outcomes having opposing effects on individual replay events. All features of replay persisted despite complete bilateral hippocampal lesions. These findings demonstrate that procedural replay occurs independently of the hippocampus, indicating that replay-driven memory consolidation can operate through parallel, independent mechanisms.

Nature Neuroscience
Sainsbury Laboratory (GB), Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit (GB), University College London (GB)
Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 8%
Sleep and Wakefulness Research
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Replay of procedural memory is independent of the hippocampus — William Dorrell, R. Carrasco-Davis, et al. · Nature Neuroscience (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS