Development sculpts dense neural circuits to enhance memory capacity.

The hippocampal CA3 network supports associative memory through recurrent connectivity. Vargas-Barroso and colleagues have recently shown that the circuit develops from a dense network in which synapses exert strong influence into a sparse and structured architecture that requires convergent input for neuronal activation. Thus, during development, the hippocampus proceeds through distinct computational regimes that collectively expand its memory capacity.