Hippocampal neuronal activity is aligned with action plans

Abstract

Neurons in the hippocampus are correlated with different variables, including space, time, sensory cues, rewards and actions, in which the extent of tuning depends on ongoing task demands^1-8. However, it remains uncertain whether such diverse tuning corresponds to distinct functions within the hippocampal network or whether a more generic computation can account for these observations⁹. Here, to disentangle the contribution of externally driven cues versus internal computation, we developed a task in mice in which space, auditory tones, rewards and context were juxtaposed with changing relevance. High-density electrophysiological recordings revealed that neurons were tuned to each of these modalities. By comparing movement paths and action sequences, we observed that external variables had limited direct influence on hippocampal firing. Instead, spiking was influenced by online action plans and modulated by goal uncertainty. Our results suggest that internally generated cell assembly sequences are selected and updated by action plans towards deliberate goals. The apparent tuning of hippocampal neuronal spiking to different sensory modalities might emerge due to alignment to the afforded action progression within a task rather than representation of external cues.