Hippocampal and prefrontal processing of network topology to simulate the future.
Topological networks lie at the heart of our cities and social milieu. However, it remains unclear how and when the brain processes topological structures to guide future behaviour during everyday life. Using fMRI in humans and a simulation of London (UK), here we show that, specifically when new streets are entered during navigation of the city, right posterior hippocampal activity indexes the change in the number of local topological connections available for future travel and right anterior hippocampal activity reflects global properties of the street entered. When forced detours require re-planning of the route to the goal, bilateral inferior lateral prefrontal activity scales with the planning demands of a breadth-first search of future paths. These results help shape models of how hippocampal and prefrontal regions support navigation, planning and future simulation.
School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NP, UK.
Amir-Homayoun
0000-0003-0569-6441
AH
Javadi
Chair of Cognitive Science, ETH Zurich 8092, Switzerland.|Bartlett School of Architecture and Design, University College London, London WC1H 0QB, UK.
Beatrix
B
Emo
Aging and Cognition Research Group, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg 39120, Germany.
Lorelei R
LR
Howard
Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Department of Experimental Psychology, UCL Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK.|Bartlett School of Architecture and Design, University College London, London WC1H 0QB, UK.
Fiona E
FE
Zisch
UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, University College London, London WC1E 6DD, UK.
Yichao
Y
Yu
School of Psychology, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire AL10 9AB, UK.
Rebecca
R
Knight
Department of Architecture and Interior Design, University of Bahrain 840, Kingdom of Bahrain.
Joao
0000-0002-4890-0775
J
Pinelo Silva
Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Department of Experimental Psychology, UCL Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK.
Hugo J
HJ
Spiers
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D065854:Spatial Navigation / Q000502:physiology*; D065855:Spatial Processing / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult