A cognitive map for object memory in the hippocampus
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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Assessment of Memory Function in Pilocarpine-induced Epileptic Mice
Published on: June 4, 2020
Joseph R Manns1, Howard Eichenbaum
1Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA. jmanns@emory.edu
Abstract:
The hippocampus has been proposed to support a cognitive map, a mental representation of the spatial layout of an environment as well as the nonspatial items encountered in that environment. In the present study, we recorded simultaneously from 43 to 61 hippocampal pyramidal cells as rats performed an object recognition memory task in which novel and repeated objects were encountered in different locations on a circular track. Multivariate analyses of the neural data indicated that information about object identity was represented secondarily to the primary information dimension of object location. In addition, the neural data related to performance on the recognition memory task. The results suggested that objects were represented as points of interest on the hippocampal cognitive map and that this map was useful in remembering encounters with particular objects in specific locations.
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