Cited by 144Memory and Neural MechanismsSpatial Cognition and NavigationMemory Processes and Influences

Anterior hippocampus and goal-directed spatial decision making

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Viard, Armelle, Doeller, Christian F., Hartley, Tom, Bird, Chris M., Burgess, Neil·2011·The Journal of Neuroscience

Abstract

Planning spatial paths through our environment is an important part of everyday life and is supported by a neural system including the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Here we investigated the precise functional roles of the components of this system in humans by using fMRI as participants performed a simple goal-directed route-planning task. Participants had to choose the shorter of two routes to a goal in a visual scene that might contain a barrier blocking the most direct route, requiring a detour, or might be obscured by a curtain, requiring memory for the scene. The participant's start position was varied to parametrically manipulate their proximity to the goal and the difference in length of the two routes. Activity in medial prefrontal cortex, precuneus, and left posterior parietal cortex was associated with detour planning, regardless of difficulty, whereas activity in parahippocampal gyrus was associated with remembering the spatial layout of the visual scene. Activity in bilateral anterior hippocampal formation showed a strong increase the closer the start position was to the goal, together with medial prefrontal, medial and posterior parietal cortices. Our results are consistent with computational models in which goal proximity is used to guide subsequent navigation and with the association of anterior hippocampal areas with nonspatial functions such as arousal and reward expectancy. They illustrate how spatial and nonspatial functions combine within the anterior hippocampus, and how these functions interact with parahippocampal, parietal, and prefrontal areas in decision making and mnemonic function.

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  • In recently learned environments, the hippocampus has been shown to encode the distance to the goal.

    “In recently learned environments, the hippocampus has been shown to encode the distance to the goal (Spiers and Maguire 2007b; Viard et al. 2011; Sherrill et al. 2013; Howard et al. 2014; Chrastil et al. 2015; Balaguer et al. 2016; Spiers et al. 2017)”
  • Prior fMRI studies using recently encountered environments containing less perceptual detail found that hippocampal activity increased with proximity to the goal.

    “Consistent with this argument, prior fMRI studies using recently encountered environments containing less perceptual detail found that the hippocampal activity increased with proximity to the goal (Viard et al. 2011; Sherrill et al. 2013).”
  • The correlation of hippocampal activity to distance to goal during travel periods in recently learned environment agrees with prior fMRI reports of similar coding and supports models which argue the hippocampus computes information about the future path to goal for navigational guidance.

    “The correlation of hippocampal activity to distance to goal during travel periods in navigation routes in the recently learned environment agrees with prior fMRI reports of similar coding (Viard et al. 2011; Sherrill et al. 2013; Howard et al. 2014; Balaguer et al. 2016) and supports models which argue the hippocampus computes information about the future path to goal for navigational guidance (Er”

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Dayan P (1991) Navigating through temporal difference. In: Advances in neural information processing systems 3 (Lippman RP, Moody JE, Touretzky DS, eds), pp 464 -470. San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.

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Authors
Viard, A., Doeller, C. F., Hartley, T., Bird, C. M., & Burgess, N.
Affiliations
  • University College London (GB)
  • Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
  • UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology (GB)
Venue
The Journal of Neuroscience
Published
2011-03-23
Volume
31
Issue
12
Pages
4613-4621
ISSN
  • 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
  • 1529-2401
OpenAlex
W2132041417
Cited by
144
References
83
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 7
FWCI
5.36
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Sussex Research Online (University of Sussex) (submittedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
  • Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
  • Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust
  • University College London
  • European Commission
  • Medical Research Council
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
Keywords
anterior hippocampus, goal-directed navigation, spatial decision-making, route planning, parahippocampal gyrus, medial prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex, precuneus, goal proximity, spatial memory, reward expectancy, arousal
MeSH terms
Adult, Arousal, Behavior, Decision Making, Female, Goals, Hippocampus, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Memory, Oxygen, Parietal Lobe, Reaction Time, Reward, Space Perception, Visual Perception, Prefrontal Cortex, Young Adult

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