Goal-directed hippocampal theta sweeps during memory-guided navigation
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: During navigation, animals continually sample their surrounding space and plan routes to distant goals. The brain mechanisms underlying these behaviors and how they coordinate to support memory-guided navigation in open environments are not understood. Using large-scale recordings in rats, we found two distinct types of place cell sequences within theta cycles that encoded trajectories sweeping beyond the animal's location: stereotypic left-right alternating sweeps and learning-dependent goal-directed sweeps. Goal-directed sweeps predicted upcoming trajectories to remembered goal locations, were coordinated with prefrontal cortex activity and preferentially replayed during sharp-wave ripples. We further describe a circuit mechanism in which a subpopulation of CA1 cells encodes egocentric goal direction, combined with reduced feedback inhibition, to generate goal-directed theta sweeps. These results indicate a flexible mechanism to support different behavioral demands during navigation.
Source: Nature Neuroscience
Institution: Cornell University
Language: English
Topic: Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $12,690
Awards: Mechanisms and functions of temporal coordination in the entorhinal-hippocampal network, How do animals learn the structure of their natural environment?, Long-range GABAergic inhibition coordinates hippocampal-subcortical circuit activity in memory formation, Neural dynamics underlying brain state-dependent memory functions
OpenAlex ID: W4413739540