PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Robert M. Mok
AU  - Bradley C. Love
TI  - A multi-level account of hippocampal function from behaviour to neurons
AID  - 10.1101/2022.06.09.495367
DP  - 2023 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2022.06.09.495367
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/04/17/2022.06.09.495367.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/04/17/2022.06.09.495367.full
AB  - A complete neuroscience requires multi-level theories that address phenomena ranging from higher-level cognitive behaviors to activities within a cell. A levels-of-mechanism approach that decomposes a higher-level model of cognition and behavior into component mechanisms provides a coherent and richer understanding of the system than any level alone. Toward this end, we decomposed a cognitive model into neuron-like units using a neural flocking approach that parallels recurrent hippocampal activity. Neural flocking coordinates units that collectively form higher-level mental constructs. The decomposed model suggested how brain-scale neural populations coordinate to form assemblies encoding concept and spatial representations, and why so many neurons are needed for robust performance at the cognitive level. This multi-level explanation provides a way to understand how cognition and symbol-like representations are supported by coordinated neural populations (assemblies) formed through learning.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.