Context-specific acquisition of location discrimination by hippocampal place cells

Hayman, R. M.A., Chakraborty, S., Anderson, M. I. and Jeffery, K. J. (2003) Context-specific acquisition of location discrimination by hippocampal place cells. European Journal of Neuroscience, 18(10), pp. 2825-2834. (doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2003.03035.x) (PMID:14656331)

Full text not currently available from Enlighten.

Abstract

The spatially localized firing of rodent hippocampal place cells is strongly determined by the local geometry of the environment. Over time, however, the cells can acquire additional inputs, including inputs from more distal cues. This is manifest as a change in firing pattern (‘remapping’) when the new inputs are manipulated. Place cells also reorganize their firing in response to non-geometric changes in ‘context’, such as a change in the colour or odour of the environment. The present study investigated whether the new inputs acquired by place cells in one context were still available to the cells when they expressed their altered firing patterns in a new context. We found that the acquired information did not transfer to the new context, suggesting that the context inputs and the acquired inputs must interact somewhere upstream of the place cells themselves. We present a model of one possible such interaction, and of how such an interaction could be modified by experience in a Hebbian manner, thus explaining the context specificity of the new learning.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Jeffery, Professor Kate
Authors: Hayman, R. M.A., Chakraborty, S., Anderson, M. I., and Jeffery, K. J.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
Journal Name:European Journal of Neuroscience
Publisher:Wiley
ISSN:0953-816X
ISSN (Online):1460-9568
Published Online:25 November 2003

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record