Impaired spatial memory codes in a mouse model of Rett syndrome

The Mecp2(+/-) mouse model recapitulates many phenotypes of patients with Rett syndrome (RTT), including learning and memory deficits. It is unknown, however, how the disease state alters memory circuit functions in vivo in RTT mice. Here we recorded from hippocampal place cells, which are thought to encode spatial memories, in freely moving RTT mice and littermate controls. We found that place cells in RTT mice are impaired in their experience-dependent increase of spatial information. This impairment is accompanied by an enhanced baseline firing synchrony of place cells within ripple oscillations during rest, which consequently occludes the increase in synchrony after a novel experience. Behaviorally, contextual memory is normal at short but not long time scale in RTT mice. Our results suggest that hypersynchrony interferes with memory consolidation and leads to impaired spatial memory codes in RTT mice, providing a possible circuit mechanism for memory deficits in Rett Syndrome.