Reward and the map in the brain

Abstract

Neuroscience Recent findings suggest a more complex role of grid cells in the brain than simply coding for space. The grid map in the entorhinal cortex, which is responsible for encoding spatial information, is not as rigid as originally thought and can be distorted by environmental modifications (see the Perspective by Quian Quiroga). Butler et al. compared grid cell coding during a free-foraging task and a spatial memory task in rats. They discovered that entorhinal spatial maps restructure to incorporate the location of a learned reward. Boccara et al. tested the influence of behaviorally relevant information on the cognitive map that emerges from grid cell firing in the rat medial entorhinal cortex. They found that grid cells participate in neural coding of the goal locality, not the whole environment. Science , this issue p. [1447][1], p. [1443][2]; see also p. [1388][3] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aav5297 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aav4837 [3]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaw8829