Seminar by Prof. Sen Cheng

Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Germany)

Origin and function of spatial representations in the hippocampus

The hippocampus contains spatial representations such as place cells in numerous species, raising fundamental questions about both their origin and functional significance. We address these questions using several computational models. Our simulations based on reinforcement learning show that spatial representations emerge spontaneously when agents navigate to unseen goals using allocentric strategies – both of which have been associated with the hippocampus. To examine the function of place cells, we implemented closed-loop behavioral simulations of spatial navigation using biologically realistic spiking neural networks with synaptic plasticity. We found a direct relationship between spatial encoding efficiency, measured by Fisher information, and navigation task performance. Our results suggest that hippocampal place cells might have been optimized for spatial navigation to unseen goals using allocentric actions.