Prioritized memory access explains planning and hippocampal replay

To make decisions, animals must evaluate candidate choices by accessing memories of relevant experiences. Yet little is known about which experiences are considered or ignored during deliberation, which ultimately governs choice. We propose a normative theory predicting which memories should be acce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature neuroscience Vol. 21; no. 11; pp. 1609 - 1617
Main Authors: Mattar, Marcelo G, Daw, Nathaniel D
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Nature Publishing Group 01.11.2018
Subjects:
Animals
Back up systems
Behavior, Animal - physiology
Decision Making - physiology
Decisions
Hippocampus
Hippocampus - physiology
Learning
Memory
Memory - physiology
Navigation behavior
Neurons - physiology
Neurosciences
Planning
Rats
Reinforcement
Reward
Rumination
Spatial Navigation - physiology
ISSN:1097-6256, 1546-1726, 1546-1726
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:To make decisions, animals must evaluate candidate choices by accessing memories of relevant experiences. Yet little is known about which experiences are considered or ignored during deliberation, which ultimately governs choice. We propose a normative theory predicting which memories should be accessed at each moment to optimize future decisions. Using nonlocal 'replay' of spatial locations in hippocampus as a window into memory access, we simulate a spatial navigation task in which an agent accesses memories of locations sequentially, ordered by utility: how much extra reward would be earned due to better choices. This prioritization balances two desiderata: the need to evaluate imminent choices versus the gain from propagating newly encountered information to preceding locations. Our theory offers a simple explanation for numerous findings about place cells; unifies seemingly disparate proposed functions of replay including planning, learning, and consolidation; and posits a mechanism whose dysfunction may underlie pathologies like rumination and craving.
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ISSN:1097-6256
1546-1726
1546-1726
DOI:10.1038/s41593-018-0232-z