RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Constructing future behaviour in the hippocampal formation through composition and replay
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2023.04.07.536053
DO 10.1101/2023.04.07.536053
A1 Jacob J.W. Bakermans
A1 Joseph Warren
A1 James C.R. Whittington
A1 Timothy E.J. Behrens
YR 2023
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/04/07/2023.04.07.536053.abstract
AB Hippocampus is critical for memory, imagination, and constructive reasoning. However, recent models have suggested that its neuronal responses can be well explained by state-spaces that model the transitions between experiences. How do we reconcile these two views? Here we show that if state-spaces are constructed compositionally from existing primitives, hippocampal responses can be interpreted as compositional memories, binding these primitives together. Critically, this enables agents to behave optimally in novel environments with no new learning, inferring behaviour directly from the composition. This provides natural interpretations of generalisation and latent learning. Hippocampal replay can build and consolidate these compositional memories, but importantly, due to their compositional nature, it can construct states it has never experienced - effectively building memories of the future. This enables new predictions of optimal replays for novel environments, or after structural changes. Together, these findings provide a framework for reasoning about several seemingly disparate functions of hippocampus.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.