Sleep Spindles as Facilitators of Memory Formation and Learning

Figure 1

(a) Spindle discharges recorded in thalamus with extracellular electrodes. (b) Schematic diagram of the main cell types in thalamus and cortex participating in spindles. Thalamocortical relay cells excite inhibitory neurons of the adjacent reticular nucleus. Relay cells in turn are reexcited via postinhibitory rebound from reticular neurons. Thalamus and cortex are reciprocally connected by axons of relay cells and pyramidal neurons.

(a)

(b)