In the model, interaction between the medial temporal hippocampus (MTH) and multiple areas in the neocortex lead to the formation of a cortical trace which represents a single memory. While this MTH-neocortex interaction is initially required to maintain the memory trace, the model predicts that over time the importance of the MTH becomes diminished and eventually is unnecessary for the storage of the memory trace.[9] The medial temporal hippocampus mediates memory formation by maintaining the connections between various neocortical regions that make up each memory trace. At first the associations between neocortical areas that make up a newly formed memory trace are weak, however repeated activation of these areas in succession lead to “consolidation” of the trace within the neocortex.