On December 7^th, The Brainand Intelligence Research Centerand theSchool of Physical Science and Technologyin Guangxi University,in collaboration with SIBET(Suzhou Institute of Biological Engineering and Technology) of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Leibniz Institute of Neurobiologyin Germany, published theirresearch progress on the formation process of holistic bursting cellsand the certainconditionsof the auditoryengraminNature Communicationsunder the title“Holistic Bursting Cells Store Long-term Memory in Auditory Cortex”.Guangxi Universityisthe firstaffiliation.

Based on two-photon imaging and targeted single-cell ERGrecording, the paperexplored the formation process of“Holistic Bursting (HB)”cells in the auditory cortex. It also reveals that HB cells fulfil the four certainconditions that German psychologist Richard Wolfgang Semon proposed more than a century ago as the original scientific definition of the“Engram”(see chart). This study reveals that HB cells may be long-term memory engramcells in the auditory cortex, and it also demonstrates that chronic two-photon imagingwith targeted single-cell electrophysiological recording is a key method for revealing long-term memory engramcells in the cortex.