Representations of stimulus meaning in the hippocampus.

ABSTRACT: The ability to discriminate and categorize the meaning of environmental stimuli and respond accordingly is essential for survival. The ventral hippocampus (vHPC) controls emotional and motivated behaviors in response to environmental cues and is hypothesized to do so in part by deciphering the positive or negative quality of these cues. Yet, what features of the environment are represented in the activity patterns of vCA1 neurons, and whether the positive or negative meaning of a stimulus is present at this stage, remains unclear. Here, using 2-photon calcium imaging across six different experimental paradigms, we consistently found that vCA1 ensembles encode the identity, sensory features, and intensity of learned and innately salient stimuli, but not their overall valence. These results

SUBMITTER: Biane JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11507678 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature