Navigating uncertainty: reward location variability induces reorganization of hippocampal spatial representations.

ABSTRACT: Navigating uncertainty is crucial for survival, with the location and availability of reward varying in different and unsignalled ways. Hippocampal place cell populations over-represent salient locations in an animal's environment, including those associated with rewards; however, how the spatial uncertainties impact the cognitive map is unclear. We report a virtual spatial navigation task designed to test the impact of different levels and types of uncertainty about reward on place cell populations. When the reward location changed on a trial-by-trial basis, inducing expected uncertainty, a greater proportion of place cells followed along, and the reward and the track end became anchors of a warped spatial metric. When the reward location then unexpectedly moved, the fraction of reward pl

SUBMITTER: Tessereau C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11741294 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature