Burgess et al. Model of the Hippocampus
Main Goal
This model considers the function of cells in the hippocampal formation in terms of the receptive fields and asks how place cells firing fields are constructed and what general computational function they could serve.
Main Assumption
The model simulates an active subset of place cells for only one environment, ignoring the dentate gyrus, CA3 recurrent collaterals, and merging fields CA3 and CA1.
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Achievements
The firing rates of place cells contain information as to the location of the rat which drives the firing of goal cells that contain the information as to where interesting places are, thus, allowing navigation.
The model performs latent learning as seen in the rat.
Limitations
The model only simulates open-field environments, in which place cell firing is not strongly modulated by direction. The model does not consider navigation in a restricted environment such as a radial arm maze or a linear track.
The learning process can saturate if the rat is immersed in a crowded environment.
The rat in this model cannot navigate in the dark.
Possible Modifications
As the model only simulates on open-field environments, the theta rhythm may not be necessary. Actually, in the model's implementation, the subiculum's output is computed by summing the firing obtained in the different theta phases.
Improve the model to allow the rat to navigate in the dark.
Prepared by Alex Guazzelli and Fernando Corbacho (aguazzel/corbacho@pollux.usc.edu)