Phase of firing does not reflect temporal order in sequence memory of humans and recurrent neural networks
type: Dataset
creator: Mormann, Florian
creator: Liebe, Stefanie
creator: Niediek, Johannes
creator: Reber, Thomas
creator: Faber, Jennifer
creator: Elger, Christian E.
  type: Person
  given name: Christian E.
  family name: Elger
  affiliation: University of Bonn Medical Center
creator: Pals, Matthijs
creator: Macke, Jakob H.
  type: Person
  given name: Jakob H.
  family name: Macke
  affiliation: Tübingen University
creator: Boström, Jan
  type: Person
  given name: Jan
  family name: Boström
  affiliation: University of Bonn Medical Center
author: Mormann, Florian
author: Liebe, Stefanie
author: Niediek, Johannes
author: Reber, Thomas
author: Faber, Jennifer
author: Elger, Christian E.
  type: Person
  given name: Christian E.
  family name: Elger
  affiliation: University of Bonn Medical Center
author: Pals, Matthijs
author: Macke, Jakob H.
  type: Person
  given name: Jakob H.
  family name: Macke
  affiliation: Tübingen University
author: Boström, Jan
  type: Person
  given name: Jan
  family name: Boström
  affiliation: University of Bonn Medical Center
date published: 2025-09-04
date modified: 2025-09-04
version: 1
description: The temporal order of a sequence of events has been thought to be reflected in the ordered firing of neurons at different phases of theta oscillations. Here we assess this by measuring single neuron activity (1,420 neurons) and local field potentials (921 channels) in the medial temporal lobe of 16 patients with epilepsy performing a working-memory task for temporal order. During memory maintenance, we observe theta oscillations, preferential firing of single neurons to theta phase and a close relationship between phase of firing and item position. However, the firing order did not match item order. Training recurrent neural networks to perform an analogous task, we also show the generation of theta oscillations, theta phase-dependent firing related to item position and, again, no match between firing and item order. Rather, our results suggest a mechanistic link between phase order, stimulus timing and oscillation frequency. In both biological and artificial neural networks, we provide evidence supporting the role of phase of firing in working-memory processing.
keywords: Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
citation: Liebe, S., Niediek, J., Pals, M. et al. Phase of firing does not reflect temporal order in sequence memory of humans and recurrent neural networks. Nat Neurosci 28, 873–882 (2025)
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
included in data catalog: bonndata
publisher: bonndata
provider: bonndata
distribution: sequence-memory-main.zip

Mormann, Florian
type: Person
given name: Florian
family name: Mormann
affiliation: University of Bonn Medical Center

Liebe, Stefanie
type: Person
given name: Stefanie
family name: Liebe
affiliation: University of Bonn Medical Center

Niediek, Johannes
type: Person
given name: Johannes
family name: Niediek
affiliation: University of Bonn Medical Center

Reber, Thomas
type: Person
given name: Thomas
family name: Reber
affiliation: University of Bonn Medical Center

Faber, Jennifer
type: Person
given name: Jennifer
family name: Faber
affiliation: University of Bonn Medical Center

Pals, Matthijs
type: Person
given name: Matthijs
family name: Pals
affiliation: Tübingen University

Liebe, S., Niediek, J., Pals, M. et al. Phase of firing does not reflect temporal order in sequence memory of humans and recurrent neural networks. Nat Neurosci 28, 873–882 (2025)
type: CreativeWork

sequence-memory-main.zip
type: DataDownload
encoding format: application/zip
content size: 284048