A hippocampus-accumbens code guides goal-directed appetitive behavior

O Barnstedt, P Mocellin, S Remy - Nature Communications, 2024 - nature.com
Nature Communications, 2024nature.com
The dorsal hippocampus (dHPC) is a key brain region for the expression of spatial
memories, such as navigating towards a learned reward location. The nucleus accumbens
(NAc) is a prominent projection target of dHPC and implicated in value-based action
selection. Yet, the contents of the dHPC→ NAc information stream and their acute role in
behavior remain largely unknown. Here, we found that optogenetic stimulation of the
dHPC→ NAc pathway while mice navigated towards a learned reward location was both …
Abstract
The dorsal hippocampus (dHPC) is a key brain region for the expression of spatial memories, such as navigating towards a learned reward location. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is a prominent projection target of dHPC and implicated in value-based action selection. Yet, the contents of the dHPC→NAc information stream and their acute role in behavior remain largely unknown. Here, we found that optogenetic stimulation of the dHPC→NAc pathway while mice navigated towards a learned reward location was both necessary and sufficient for spatial memory-related appetitive behaviors. To understand the task-relevant coding properties of individual NAc-projecting hippocampal neurons (dHPC→NAc), we used in vivo dual-color two-photon imaging. In contrast to other dHPC neurons, the dHPC→NAc subpopulation contained more place cells, with enriched spatial tuning properties. This subpopulation also showed enhanced coding of non-spatial task-relevant behaviors such as deceleration and appetitive licking. A generalized linear model revealed enhanced conjunctive coding in dHPC→NAc neurons which improved the identification of the reward zone. We propose that dHPC routes specific reward-related spatial and behavioral state information to guide NAc action selection.
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