Replay of incidentally encoded episodic memories in the rat

Although events are not always known to be important when they occur, people can remember details about such incidentally encoded information using episodic memory. Importantly, when information is explicitly encoded for use in an expected test of retention (as in most assessments in animals), it is possible that it is used to generate a planned action1,2,3; thus, the remembered action can occur without remembering the earlier episode. By contrast, when a test is unexpected, transforming information into an action plan is unlikely because the importance of the information and the nature of the test are not yet known. Thus, accurate performance in an unexpected test after incidental encoding documents episodic memory.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 Here, we present evidence that rats replay episodic memories of incidentally encoded information in an unexpected assessment of memory. In one task,9 rats reported the third-last item in an explicitly encoded list of trial-unique odors. In a second task,10 rats foraged in a radial maze in the absence of odors. On a critical test, rats foraged in the radial maze, but scented lids covered the food. Next, memory of the third-last odor was assessed. All participating rats correctly answered the unexpected question. These results suggest that rats encoded multiple pieces of putatively unimportant information, and later they replayed a stream of episodic memories when that information was needed to solve an unexpected problem. We propose that rats replay episodic memories of incidentally encoded information, which documents a critical aspect of human episodic memory in a non-human animal. [Display omitted] •We remember info even though it was seemingly unimportant when it was encountered•Remembering a stream of events from the past is a key aspect of remembering•Rats replay incidentally encoded info in an unexpected test of episodic memory•We document a critical aspect of human episodic memory in a non-human animal Sheridan et al. show that rats encode multiple pieces of putatively unimportant information and later replay a stream of episodic memories when that information is needed to solve an unexpected problem. They conclude that the cognitive building blocks needed to replay a stream of episodic memories are quite old in the evolutionary timescale.