Navigating life

Abstract

The discoveries of “place cells” in the hippocampus and “grid cells” in the entorhinal cortex are landmark achievements in relating behavior to neural activity, permitting analysis of a powerful system for spatial representation in the brain. The contributions of this work include not only the empirical findings but also the approach this work pioneered of examining neural activity in complex behaviors with real ecological validity in freely moving animals, and of attempting to place the findings in the larger context of how the neural representations of space are used in service of real-world behavior, namely what the Nobel committee described as permitting us to “navigate our way through a complex environment.” These discoveries and approaches have had far-ranging impact on and implications for work in human cognitive neuroscience, where we see (1) confirmation in humans that the hippocampus and overlying MTL cortex are critically engaged in supporting a relational representation of space, and that it can be used for flexible spatial navigation and (2) evidence that these regions are also critically involved in aspects of relational memory not limited to space, and in the flexible use of hippocampal memory extending beyond spatial navigation. Recent work, using tasks that emphasize the requirement for the active use of memory in online processing, just as spatial navigation has long placed such a requirement on rodents, suggests that the hippocampus and related MTL cortex can support the navigating of environments even more complex than what is needed in spatial navigation. It allows us to use memory in guiding upcoming actions and choices to act optimally in and on the world, permitting us to navigate life in all its beautiful complexity.

Assessing hippocampal development and language in early childhood: Evidence from a new application of the Automatic Segmentation Adapter Tool

“…We also applied ASAT-10 corrected volumes to the investigation of how hippocampal structure might support cognition in early development. While the importance of the hippocampus in supporting memory and spatial navigation in adults and children is well recognized [Burgess et al, 2002;Ghetti and Lee, 2011], the hippocampus is hypothesized to act in the service of other forms of cognition including certain aspects of language [Cohen, 2015;Duff and Brown-Schmidt, 2012]. [TQ1]In adults, hippocampal activation has been associated with learning novel vocabulary [Breitenstein et al, 2005;Jung et al, 2014].…”

“…Data from the adult literature have documented relations between language and hippocampal structure and function [e.g. Cohen, 2015;Duff and Brown-Schmidt, 2012). Initial evidence using voxel-based morphometry in infants [Deniz Can et al, 2013] suggested these relations also exist between early language development and hippocampal structure in infancy.…”

Structural and Functional MRI Evidence for Distinct Medial Temporal and Prefrontal Roles in Context-dependent Relational Memory

“…As we interact with the world, we are constantly encoding information, updating mental representations, and altering our behavior to meet changing situational demands; this is an essential part of the human experience integrally tied to memory (Moscovitch, Cabeza, Winocur, & Nadel, 2016;Cohen, 2015;Eichenbaum & Cohen, 2014;Maguire & Mullally, 2013). Such behaviors are often context dependent; for example, remembering that to visit your friend at work, you need to go to her third-floor office, but to visit her at home, you need to go to her first-floor apartment.…”

Impaired inference in a case of developmental amnesia

“…Relational memory is a critical component of higher-order cognitive functioning (Konkel et al, 2008;Moscovitch, 2008;Addis et al, 2011;Duff and Brown-Schmidt, 2012;Cohen, 2015) and is sensitive to neurological disturbances and aging (Ryan et al, 2013;D'Angelo et al, in press). Relational memory impairments can lead to impairments in the ability to infer novel information indirectly from prior learning (Smith and Squire, 2005;Ryan et al, 2016).…”