The hippocampus computes diverse information involving spatial memory, anxiety, or reward and directly projects to several brain areas. Are different computations transmitted to all downstream targets uniformly, or does the hippocampus selectively route information according to content and target region? By recording from ventral hippocampal CA1 neurons in rats during different behavioral tasks and determining axonal projections with optogenetics, we observed subsets of neurons changing firing at places of elevated anxiety or changing activity during goal approach. Anxiety-related firing was selectively increased in neurons projecting to the prefrontal cortex. Goal-directed firing was most prominent in neurons targeting the nucleus accumbens; and triple-projecting neurons, targeting the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and nucleus accumbens, were most active during tasks and sharp wave/ripples. Thus, hippocampal neurons route distinct behavior-contingent information selectively to different target areas.

Coordinated shifts of neuronal activity in the prefrontal cortex are associated with strategy adaptations in behavioural tasks, when animals switch from following one rule to another. However, network dynamics related to multiple-rule changes are scarcely known. We show how firing rates of individual neurons in the prelimbic and cingulate cortex correlate with the performance of rats trained to change their navigation multiple times according to allocentric and egocentric strategies. The concerted population activity exhibits a stable firing during the performance of one rule but shifted to another neuronal firing state when a new rule is learnt. Interestingly, when the same rule is presented a second time within the same session, neuronal firing does not revert back to the original neuronal firing state, but a new activity-state is formed. Our data indicate that neuronal firing of prefrontal cortical neurons represents changes in strategy and task-performance rather than specific strategies or rules.

Parvalbumin-expressing basket cells tightly control cortical networks and fire remarkably stereotyped during network oscillations and simple behaviors. How can these cells support multifaceted situations with different behavioral options and complex temporal sequences? We recorded from identified parvalbumin-expressing basket cells in prefrontal cortex of freely moving rats performing a multidimensional delayed cue-matching-to-place task, juxtacellularly filled recorded neurons for unequivocal histological identification, and determined their activity during temporally structured task episodes, associative working-memory, and stimulus-guided choice behavior. We show that parvalbumin-expressing basket cells do not fire homogenously, but individual cells were recruited or inhibited during different task episodes. Firing of individual basket cells was correlated with amount of presynaptic VIP (vasoactive intestinal polypeptide)-expressing GABAergic input. Together with subsets of pyramidal neurons, activity of basket cells differentiated for sequential actions and stimulus-guided choice behavior. Thus, interneurons of the same cell type can be recruited into different neuronal ensembles with distinct firing patterns to support multi-layered cognitive computations.

Summary Neuronal signals in the prefrontal cortex have been reported to predict upcoming decisions. Such activity patterns are often coupled to perceptual cues indicating correct choices or values of different options. How does the prefrontal cortex signal future decisions, when no cues are present, but when decisions are made based on internal valuations of past experiences with stochastic outcomes? We trained rats to perform a two-arm bandit-task, successfully adjusting choices between certain-small, or possible-big rewards with changing long-term advantages. We discovered specialized prefrontal neurons, whose firing during the encounter of no-reward predicted the subsequent choice of animals, even for unlikely or uncertain decisions and several seconds before choice-execution. Optogenetic silencing of the prelimbic cortex exclusively timed to encounters of no-reward, provoked animals to excessive gambling for large rewards. Firing of prefrontal neurons during outcome evaluation signal subsequent choices during gambling and is essential for dynamically adjusting decisions based on internal valuations.

Aberrant proteostasis of protein aggregation may lead to behavior disorders including chronic mental illnesses (CMI). Furthermore, the neuronal activity alterations that underlie CMI are not well understood. We recorded the local field potential and single‐unit activity of the hippocampal CA1 region in vivo in rats transgenically overexpressing the Disrupted‐in‐Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) gene (tgDISC1), modeling sporadic CMI. These tgDISC1 rats have previously been shown to exhibit DISC1 protein aggregation, disturbances in the dopaminergic system and attention‐related deficits. Recordings were performed during exploration of familiar and novel open field environments and during sleep, allowing investigation of neuronal abnormalities in unconstrained behavior. Compared to controls, tgDISC1 place cells exhibited smaller place fields and decreased speed‐modulation of their firing rates, demonstrating altered spatial coding and deficits in encoding location‐independent sensory inputs. Oscillation analyses showed that tgDISC1 pyramidal neurons had higher theta phase locking strength during novelty, limiting their phase coding ability. However, their mean theta phases were more variable at the population level, reducing oscillatory network synchronization. Finally, tgDISC1 pyramidal neurons showed a lack of novelty‐induced shift in their preferred theta and gamma firing phases, indicating deficits in coding of novel environments with oscillatory firing. By combining single cell and neuronal population analyses, we link DISC1 protein pathology with abnormal hippocampal neural coding and network synchrony, and thereby gain a more comprehensive understanding of CMI mechanisms.