An attractor model for hippocampal place cell hysteresis

摘要

It is well-known that identical sensory input under different perceptual, behavioral or contextual condition can produce distinct patterns of activity in the place cells of the rodent hippocampus. However, the mechanisms underlying this have not been completely clarified. A recent experiment has shown that place cell activity on a 3-arm maze exhibits gystersis as the Maze is rotated with respect to distal cues. The apparent angular extent of a place field is greater When a maze arm rotates out of it than when it rotates back into the field. In this report, we Present a simple attractor-based model of the hippocampus that reproduces this hysteresis Phenomenon. The model allows us to make predictions about changes in the hysteresion effect as The animal becomes more familiar with the maze in several orientations. It also has implications For the place field remapping phenomenon seen in many hippocampal experiment.