Abstract: 
Higher-level cognition is built upon complex interactions between neural areas.  While it is known that such interactions are needed, very little is known about how information transfer actually occurs within these interactions. My work concentrates on one of the best characterized neural interactions, those between the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the hippocampus. Both areas are important for spatial learning and memory, but in different ways and, importantly, at different critical points in the memory process. Briefly, during working memory and memory consolidation, hippocampal activity drives the ACC, but during remote memory recall the circuit works in the other direction and ACC activity affects hippocampal spiking and oscillations. Additionally, it is largely unknown how Alzheimer’s disease affects the interactions between these areas. I will present some new data from our lab that offers interesting insights into how activity in the ACC and hippocampus are affected by AD pathologies explaining why spatial working memory is impaired.