Dr. Matthijs (Matt) van der Meer
Assistant
Professor and Canada Research Chair
Department
of Biology and Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience
University of Waterloo
 Title of Presentation: “Spike timing, sequences and model-based prediction in the rodent hippocampusâ€
Abstract:
The hippocampus is a brain structure most famously
associated with episodic memory -- the ability to recall what happened
on our
18th birthday, or where we parked our car this morning. By
recording
from ensembles of neurons in the rat hippocampus, we can ask how neural
activity
during experience relates to subsequent memory recall and behavioral
choice, at
fine timescales. Decoding these neural ensembles reveals that the
hippocampus
compresses ongoing experience into repeating theta sequences, which can
dynamically "look ahead" or "look behind" the animal.
Furthermore, subsequent recall is not limited to literal "replay" of
experience but includes, for instance, sequences not previously
experienced.
Finally, neurons in the ventral striatum, a reward-related brain
structure that
receives inputs from the hippocampus, participate in these hippocampal
timing
phenomena. Simulations using spike
timing-based learning rules suggest that hippocampal compression of
ongoing
experience may facilitate rapid association of places and rewards.
Taken together,
these observations elucidate how hippocampal memories may contribute to
a
predictive world model useful for, say, taking a shortcut directly to
your car
in the parking lot.
Please join us at 3:30 p.m. in the Classrooms ABC, 2nd Floor, Hospital and via telecast at the Toronto Western Hospital, 3rd Floor, McLaughlin Wing, Room 405.
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