The hippocampus as a predictive map

A cognitive map has long been the dominant metaphor for hippocampal function, embracing the idea that place cells encode a geometric representation of space. However, evidence for predictive coding, reward sensitivity, and policy dependence in place cells suggests that the representation is not purely spatial. We approach this puzzle from a reinforcement learning perspective: what kind of spatial representation is most useful for maximizing future reward? We show that the answer takes the form of a predictive representation. This representation captures many aspects of place cell responses that fall outside the traditional view of a cognitive map. Furthermore, we argue that entorhinal grid cells encode a low-dimensional basis set for the predictive representation, useful for suppressing noise in predictions and extracting multiscale structure for hierarchical planning.

Download data

• Downloaded 15,761 times
• Download rankings, all-time:
  • Site-wide: 102 out of 84,855
  • In neuroscience: 10 out of 15,105
• Year to date:
  • Site-wide: 1,892 out of 84,855
• Since beginning of last month:
  • Site-wide: 4,579 out of 84,855

Altmetric data

Downloads over time

Distribution of downloads per paper, site-wide