Hippocampal‐striatal functional connectivity supports processing of temporal expectations from associative memory

Abstract

The hippocampus and dorsal striatum are both associated with temporal processing, but they are thought to play distinct roles. The hippocampus has been reported to contribute to storing temporal structure of events in memory, whereas the striatum contributes to temporal motor preparation and reward anticipation. Here, we asked whether the striatum cooperates with the hippocampus in processing the temporal context of memorized visual associations. In our task, participants were trained to implicitly form temporal expectations for one of two possible time intervals associated to specific cue‐target associations, and subsequently were scanned using ultra‐high‐field 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging. During scanning, learned temporal expectations could be violated when the pairs were presented at either the associated or not‐associated time intervals. When temporal expectations were met during testing trials, activity in left and right hippocampal subfields and right putamen decreased, compared to when temporal expectations were not met. Further, psycho‐physiological interactions showed that functional connectivity between left hippocampal subfields and caudate decreased when temporal expectations were not met. Our results indicate that the hippocampus and striatum cooperate to process implicit temporal expectation from mnemonic associations. Our findings provide further support for a hippocampal‐striatal network in temporal associative processing.

Cognitive outcome and its neural correlates after cardiorespiratory arrest in childhood

“…Further discussion of the role of the different dorsal striatal structures in learning is beyond the scope of the current study. However, we note that (i) it is widely accepted that the dorsal striatum is involved in various types of learning, beyond mere motor learning (Haber, 2016; Janacsek et al., 2022), supporting the findings from the current study, but (ii) only few studies have focused on the interplay between the hippocampal‐based circuit and the striatal‐based circuit(s) during learning processes, suggesting that, in adults, the hippocampus and caudate nucleus work together to consolidate learning [temporal (van de Ven et al., 2020) or spatial (Woolley et al., 2015)], therefore supporting memory formation.…”

Selective neural coding of object, feature, and geometry spatial cues in humans

“…There is long‐standing knowledge from rodent studies that the hippocampus mediates the formation of cognitive map‐like representations while the striatum is specifically involved with stimulus‐outcome associations (Squire, 2004; White & McDonald, 2002). Yet, converging evidence from the animal and human literature supports intricate cooperation and competition between these two memory systems (Gahnstrom & Spiers, 2020; Packard & Goodman, 2013; Rinaldi et al, 2020; van de Ven et al, 2020). Critically, Packard and Goodman (2013) posited that the heterogeneity of the visual environment, defined by the presence of multiple visual cues, could modulate this competition by favoring one type of strategy over another, ultimately diminishing competitive interference.…”

Enhanced putamen functional connectivity underlies altered risky decision-making in age-related cognitive decline

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