Intracranial recordings and human memory

•The spatiotemporal resolution of ECoG is unmatched in the study of human cognition.•Memory is linked to patterns of regional synchronization and desynchronization.•Frequency multiplexing occurs in hippocampal and cortical networks in memory.•High-frequency activity is central to successful memory encoding and retrieval.•Frontal cortex activity may play an essential role in human memory networks.

Recent work involving intracranial recording during human memory performance provides superb spatiotemporal resolution on mnemonic processes. These data demonstrate that the cortical regions identified in neuroimaging studies of memory fall into temporally distinct networks and the hippocampal theta activity reported in animal memory literature also plays a central role in human memory. Memory is linked to activity at multiple interacting frequencies, ranging from 1 to 500 Hz. High-frequency responses and coupling between different frequencies suggest that frontal cortex activity is critical to human memory processes, as well as a potential key role for the thalamus in neocortical oscillations. Future research will inform unresolved questions in the neuroscience of human memory and guide creation of stimulation protocols to facilitate function in the damaged brain.