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Distinct hippocampus codes for contextual cueing: learning contexts and their predictive associations with targets in
Siyi Chen1, Si Cheng1, Thomas Geyer2
1Neuro-Cognitive Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstraße 13, 80802 Munich, Germany.
Neuroimage
|November 14, 2025
Summary
The hippocampus learns context-target associations and distractor-distractor relationships in visual search. Distinct hippocampal regions and the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) manage attentional selection based on learned spatial layouts.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Human Brain Imaging
Background:
- The hippocampus is implicated in spatial context memory.
- Its precise role in encoding context-target versus distractor-distractor associations during visual search is unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural mechanisms of contextual learning in visual search.
- To determine if the hippocampus encodes context-target associations or distractor-distractor associations, or both.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) combined with a two-phase visual search paradigm.
- Multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) to decode hippocampal representations.
- Connectivity modeling to assess interactions between brain regions.
Main Results:
- Both context-target and distractor-distractor associations were decoded from the hippocampus.
- Anterior hippocampus preferentially encoded context-target associations, while the posterior hippocampus encoded distractor-distractor associations.
- The temporoparietal junction (TPJ) modulated hippocampal interactions based on context predictivity.
Conclusions:
- The hippocampus contains anatomically separable circuits for representing predictive context-target and non-predictive distractor-distractor relations.
- These hippocampal circuits, modulated by the TPJ, influence attentional selection in visual search.
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