However, due to the complexity of the implemented learning paradigms and/or technical limitations, causal evidence for the necessity of an interaction between the neural correlate of prestored knowledge and that of novel experience for the induction of these knowledge assimilations has not been obtained. Moreover, implicit ideas, beyond those that are directly trained, are thought to be generated via online assimilation of the ongoing experience with previous knowledge networks that are passively primed with explicit cues or instructions prior to or during learning ( 7– 12).

Mnemonic maps structured during spatial learning, for instance, are believed to guide navigation through flexibly imagining previously unvisited trajectory routes while recapturing neural activity sequences of those recently encountered ( 4– 6). Thus, assimilating pertinent memories during sleep through coreactivation of their respective engrams represents the neural underpinnings of sleep-triggered implicit cortical learning. Disrupting sleep coreactivations prevented assimilation while preserving recent memory consolidation. Anterior cingulate cortex neurons representing relevant, rather than distinct, memories were significantly coreactivated during postconditioning sleep only, before their selective integration the next day during testing. Mice exploring one of four contexts 1 d before undergoing contextual fear conditioning in a square context showed a gradual fear transfer to preexposed geometrically relevant contexts the next day, but not after 15 min. We established a paradigm that links/separates context-dependent memories according to geometrical similarities. Uninstructed brain could also show boosted creativity, particularly after idling states, yet it remains unclear whether the idling brain can spontaneously spark relevant knowledge assimilations. However, the necessary neural dynamics of memory assimilation remains elusive. Passive priming of prior knowledge to assimilate ongoing experiences underlies advanced cognitive processing.

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