Event Abstract Back to Event Expected and unexpected uncertainty in the human hippocampus Marta Garrido1, 2*, Gareth Barnes2, Dharshan Kumaran3, Eleanor Maguire2 and Raymond Dolan2 1 University if Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute, Australia 2 University College London, Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, United Kingdom 3 University College London, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, United Kingdom Background: We are sure to face uncertainty in a constantly changing world. The ability to detect changes is fundamental for adaptive behaviour and the failure to tolerate uncertainty has been associated with anxiety disorders and schizophrenia. Different forms of uncertainty, expected and unexpected, have been proposed to evoke qualitatively different brain signals and segregation of specific neuromodulators. Neuroimaging studies have shown that the hippocampus is involved in mismatch computations and that hippocampal theta oscillations are modulated in novel environments. Methods: We use magnetocencephalography (MEG) to investigate the oscillatory activity in the hippocampus under different forms of uncertainty: expected and unexpected. While performing an incidental task, participants were presented with predictable (ABCD), surprising (ABDC), or random (CADB) sequences of objects. Surprising sequences of objects elicit a mismatch, or unexpected uncertainty, whereas random sequences evoke expected uncertainty due to a predicted change. We used linear constrained minimum variance (LCMV) Beamforming to reconstruct images of theta, alpha, beta, and gamma oscillatory source activity from MEG data recorded in a sample of healthy individuals (N=16). We then looked for specific effects of expected and unexpected uncertainty in the hippocampus. Results: We found that anterior hippocampal theta was significantly higher for the unexpected than the predictable condition. Posterior hippocampal theta, on the other hand, was higher for the unexpected when compared to the ‘expected uncertainty’ condition. Crucially, these effects were found specifically in theta and not in other frequency bands. Conclusions: Our findings build upon ideas of functional segregation down the long axis of the hippocampus, by linking generic novelty or change detection to theta modulation in the anterior hippocampus, and prediction violation or mismatch computations to theta modulation in the posterior hippocampus. Keywords: uncertainty, expectation, mismatch, Magnetoencephalography (MEG), Hippocampus Conference: ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Clayton, Melbourne, Australia, 28 Nov - 1 Dec, 2013. Presentation Type: Oral Topic: Executive Processes Citation: Garrido M, Barnes G, Kumaran D, Maguire E and Dolan R (2013). Expected and unexpected uncertainty in the human hippocampus. Conference Abstract: ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00159 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 15 Oct 2013; Published Online: 25 Nov 2013. * Correspondence: Dr. Marta Garrido, University if Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute, St Lucia, Australia, m.garrido@uq.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Marta Garrido Gareth Barnes Dharshan Kumaran Eleanor Maguire Raymond Dolan Google Marta Garrido Gareth Barnes Dharshan Kumaran Eleanor Maguire Raymond Dolan Google Scholar Marta Garrido Gareth Barnes Dharshan Kumaran Eleanor Maguire Raymond Dolan PubMed Marta Garrido Gareth Barnes Dharshan Kumaran Eleanor Maguire Raymond Dolan Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.