TY - JOUR
T1 - Flexible weighting of diverse inputs makes hippocampal function malleable
AU - Aly, Mariam
AU - Turk-Browne, Nicholas B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier B.V.
Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/7/27
Y1 - 2018/7/27
N2 - Classic theories of hippocampal function have emphasized its role as a dedicated memory system, but recent research has shown that it contributes broadly to many aspects of cognition, including attention and perception. We propose that the reason the hippocampus plays such a broad role in cognition is that its function is particularly malleable. We argue that this malleability arises because the hippocampus receives diverse anatomical inputs and these inputs are flexibly weighted based on behavioral goals. We discuss examples of how hippocampal representations can be flexibly weighted, focusing on hippocampal modulation by attention. Finally, we suggest some general neural mechanisms and core hippocampal computations that may enable the hippocampus to support diverse cognitive functions, including attention, perception, and memory. Together, this work suggests that great progress can and has been made in understanding the hippocampus by considering how the domain-general computations it performs allow it to dynamically contribute to many different behaviors.
AB - Classic theories of hippocampal function have emphasized its role as a dedicated memory system, but recent research has shown that it contributes broadly to many aspects of cognition, including attention and perception. We propose that the reason the hippocampus plays such a broad role in cognition is that its function is particularly malleable. We argue that this malleability arises because the hippocampus receives diverse anatomical inputs and these inputs are flexibly weighted based on behavioral goals. We discuss examples of how hippocampal representations can be flexibly weighted, focusing on hippocampal modulation by attention. Finally, we suggest some general neural mechanisms and core hippocampal computations that may enable the hippocampus to support diverse cognitive functions, including attention, perception, and memory. Together, this work suggests that great progress can and has been made in understanding the hippocampus by considering how the domain-general computations it performs allow it to dynamically contribute to many different behaviors.
KW - Episodic memory
KW - Match/mismatch detection
KW - Pattern completion
KW - Pattern separation
KW - Relational representations
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U2 - 10.1016/j.neulet.2017.05.063
DO - 10.1016/j.neulet.2017.05.063
M3 - Review article
C2 - 28587901
AN - SCOPUS:85020277458
VL - 680
SP - 13
EP - 22
JO - Neuroscience Letters
JF - Neuroscience Letters
SN - 0304-3940
ER -