2024-12-10 カリフォルニア大学サンタバーバラ校(UCSB)
<関連情報>
- https://news.ucsb.edu/2024/021704/resolving-ambiguity
- https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(24)01444-1
文脈依存的な階層的連想における眼窩前頭皮質と背側海馬の部分的に解離可能な役割 Partially dissociable roles of the orbitofrontal cortex and dorsal hippocampus in context-dependent hierarchical associations
Sophie Peterson∙ Jose Chavira∙ Jesus Alejandro Garcia Arango∙ David Seamans∙ Emma D. Cimino∙ Ronald Keiflin
Current Biology Published:November 20, 2024
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.049
Highlights
- Hierarchical (context-gated) associations regulate responses to trained cues
- Hierarchical associations also promote inference of conditional relationships
- OFC is critical for these two properties of hierarchical associations
- DH is primarily involved in the inference of conditional relationships in learning
Summary
Reward cues are often ambiguous; what is good in one context is not necessarily good in another. To solve this ambiguity, animals form hierarchical associations in which the context gates the retrieval of appropriate cue-evoked memories. These hierarchical associations regulate cue-elicited behavior and influence subsequent learning, promoting the inference of context-dependency. The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and dorsal hippocampus (DH) are both proposed to encode a “cognitive map” encompassing hierarchical, context-dependent associations. However, OFC- and DH-specific contributions to the different functional properties of hierarchical associations remain controversial. Using chemogenetic inactivation in rats, we show that the OFC is essential to both properties of hierarchical associations (performance regulation and learning bias). In contrast, DH’s role appears limited to the contextual learning bias conferred by hierarchical associations. This work establishes the OFC as a critical orchestrator of hierarchical associations and provides insights into the extended circuits mediating the functional properties of these associations.
