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

bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Jan 7:2025.01.06.631465. doi: 10.1101/2025.01.06.631465.

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 place cells that followed was greater when starting from a state of expected, compared to low, uncertainty. Overall, we show that different forms of potentially interacting uncertainty generate remapping in parallel, task-relevant, reference frames.

Publication types

  • Preprint