The neural circuitry mediating taste has been mapped out from the periphery to the cortex, but genetic identity of taste-responsive neurons has remained elusive. Here, we describe a population of neurons in the gustatory region of the parabrachial nucleus that express the transcription factor Satb2 and project to taste-associated regions, including the gustatory thalamus and insular cortex. Using calcium imaging in awake, freely licking mice, we show that Satb2 neurons respond to the five basic taste modalities. Optogenetic activation of these neurons enhances taste preferences, whereas chronic inactivation decreases the magnitude of taste preferences in both brief- and long-access taste tests. Simultaneous inactivation of Satb2 and calcitonin gene-related peptide neurons in the PBN abolishes responses to aversive tastes. These data suggest that taste information in the parabrachial nucleus is conveyed by multiple populations of neurons, including both Satb2 and calcitonin gene-related peptide neurons.

SUMMARY Distinguishing spatial contexts is likely essential for the well-known role of the hippocampus in episodic memory. We studied whether types of hippocampal neural organization thought to underlie context discrimination is impacted by learned economic considerations of choice behavior. Hippocampal place cells and theta activity were recorded as rats performed a maze-based probability discounting task that involved choosing between a small certain reward or a large probabilistic reward. Different spatial distributions of place fields were observed in response to changes in probability, the outcome of the rats’ choice, and whether or not rats were free to make that choice. The degree to which the reward location was represented by place cells scaled with the expected probability of rewards. Theta power increased around the goal location also in proportion to the expected probability of signaled rewards. Further, theta power dynamically varied as specific econometric information was obtained ‘on the fly’ during task performance. Such an economic perspective of memory processing by hippocampal place cells expands our view of the nature of context memories retrieved by hippocampus during adaptive navigation.

Cover legend: This cover image, by Valerie L. Tryon et al., is based on the Research Article Hippocampal neural activity reflects the economy of choices during goal‐directed navigation, DOI: .