Abstract
Events that happen at a particular place and time come to define our episodic memories. Extensive experimental and clinical research illustrate that the hippocampus is central to the processing of episodic memories, and this is in large part due to its analysis of context information according to spatial and temporal references. In this way, hippocampus defines ones expectations for a given context as well as detects errors in predicted contextual features. The detection of context prediction errors is hypothesized to distinguished events into meaningful epochs that come to be recalled as separate episodic memories. The nature of the spatial and temporal context information processed by hippocampus is described, as is a hypothesis that the apparently self-regulatory nature of hippocampal context processing may ultimately be mediated by natural homeostatic operations and plasticity. Context prediction errors by hippocampus are suggested to be valued by the midbrain dopamine system, the output of which is ultimately fed back to hippocampus to update memory-driven context expectations for future events. Thus, multiple network functions (both within and outside hippocampus) combine to result in adaptive episodic memories.
Highlights
Events are typically defined by the situations that are associated with significant outcomes
The following discusses the view that hippocampus represents context information in order to determine whether the expected contextual features match those currently being experienced
The reduction in firing when rewards are unexpectedly absent is greater if the expectation was for a large, and not small, reward. These reward responses are context-dependent in a manner similar to what is observed for hippocampal place fields (Puryear et al, 2010), a result consistent with the view that hippocampal information guides reward value assessment systems of the brain (e.g., Mizumori et al, 2004; Lisman and Grace, 2005; Puryear et al, 2010) such that the significance of context prediction error messages can be determined (e.g., Penner and Mizumori, 2012a,b)
Summary
Events are typically defined by the situations that are associated with significant outcomes. These reward responses are context-dependent in a manner similar to what is observed for hippocampal place fields (Puryear et al, 2010), a result consistent with the view that hippocampal information guides reward value assessment systems of the brain (e.g., Mizumori et al, 2004; Lisman and Grace, 2005; Puryear et al, 2010) such that the significance of context prediction error messages can be determined (e.g., Penner and Mizumori, 2012a,b).
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