Abstract
Experience replay, characterized by the sequential reactivation of hippocampal place cells, has been proposed to consolidate past experiences and simulate future scenarios, thereby constructing cognitive maps to guide action. However, the role of experience replay in the formation of hexagonal patterns of entorhinal grid cells − known to serve as the metrics of cognitive map − remains largely unknown. Here, we used continuous attractor models to simulate the formation of multi-scale hexagonal patterns, and investigated the regularity of generated patterns by directly modulating experience replay of hippocampal place cells in awake state. We found that reverse replay significantly increased the regularity of small-scale hexagonal patterns compared to conditions with no replay, forward replay, and shuffled replay of past experiences. In contrast, large-scale hexagonal patterns emerged spontaneously, independent of experience replay. Further analysis revealed that the efficiency of reverse replay in hexagonal pattern formation was influenced by the interaction between grid scales and the amount of past experience. Specifically, reverse replay maintained excitatory and inhibitory grid cell activity during pattern translation when the amount of past experience was limited, making it particularly efficient for the rapid formation of small-scale hexagonal patterns. In summary, our results suggest a potential link between experience replay and the formation of multi-scale hexagonal patterns from a computational perspective. These findings may provide insights into the role of grid cell signals in visual attention and the rapid adaptation of hexagonal patterns in scene transition.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
Improved the overall writing of the manuscript and revised the results related to persistent cohomology.
Data availability
Raw data reported in the present study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.