Date of Award
Summer 7-24-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
August 2026
Department
Biological Sciences
College Granting Degree
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Department Granting Degree
Biological Sciences
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Yingxue Wang
Thesis/Dissertation Co-Chair
Robert W. Stackman Jr.
Abstract
The ability to organize experiences in time is fundamental to episodic memory and enables animals to predict and guide future behavior. Hippocampal time cells are thought to provide a neural representation for the temporal component of memory. However, time cells have been observed in working memory tasks where animals were not required to keep track of elapsed time. Therefore, it remains unclear what are the hippocampal patterns of activity during explicit timing. Here, utilizing behavioral perturbations and calcium imaging in dorsal CA1, we identified a previously unknown pyramidal neuron subpopulation that flexibly scales its activity during explicit timing. As head-fixed immobile mice performed a time-estimation task, CA1 time cells were scarce during the delay period. In contrast, “timing interval cells” (TICs) exhibited sustained activity from the onset of timing until the animal’s action initiation. TICs demonstrated temporal scaling both with trial-to-trial variations in action time and across different delay durations. The population activity of these neurons supported reliable decoding of elapsed time likely via ramping dynamics. Furthermore, TIC prevalence increased with learning. Together, these findings revealed scalable sustained dynamics that provide a distinct hippocampal mechanism to support explicit timing behavior.
Recommended Citation
Citrin, Kori-Anne, "HIPPOCAMPAL “TIMING INTERVAL CELLS” EXHIBIT SCALABLE DYNAMICS FOR EXPLICIT TIMING" (2026). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 399.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general/399