title: Orbitofrontal cortex encodes memories within value-based schemas and represents contexts that guide memory retrieval.
abstract: There are a substantial number of studies showing that the orbitofrontal cortex links events to reward values, whereas the hippocampus links events to the context in which they occur. Here we asked how the orbitofrontal cortex contributes to memory where context determines the reward values associated with events. After rats learned object-reward associations that differed depending on the spatial context in which the objects were presented, neuronal ensembles in orbitofrontal cortex represented distinct value-based schemas, each composed of a systematic organization of the representations of objects in the contexts and positions where they were associated with reward or nonreward. Orbitofrontal ensembles also represent the different spatial contexts that define the mappings of stimuli to actions that lead to reward or nonreward. These findings, combined with observations on complementary memory representation within the hippocampus, suggest mechanisms through which prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus interact in support of context-guided memory.
authors.affiliation: Center for Memory and Brain, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0466-3875
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farovik
authors.affiliation: Center for Memory and Brain, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215.
authors.forename: Ryan J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Place
authors.affiliation: Center for Memory and Brain, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215.
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McKenzie
authors.affiliation: Center for Memory and Brain, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215.
authors.forename: Blake
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1278-0289
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.affiliation: Center for Memory and Brain, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215.
authors.forename: Catherine E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Munro
authors.affiliation: Center for Memory and Brain, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215 hbe@bu.edu.
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eichenbaum
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012201:Reward
keywords: context; memory; orbitofrontal cortex; rat; retrieval; value