Schema cell formation in orbitofrontal cortex is suppressed by hippocampal output

Abstract

Both orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and hippocampus (HC) are implicated in the formation of cognitive maps and their generalization into schemas. However how these areas interact in supporting this function remains an open question, with some proposals supporting a serial model in which OFC draws upon task representations created by HC to extract key behavioral features and others proposing a parallel model in which both regions construct representations that highlight different types of information. Here we tested between these two models by asking how schema correlates in OFC would be affected by inactivation of HC output, after learning and during transfer across problems. We found the prevalence and content of schema correlates were unaffected by inactivation after learning, while inactivation during learning accelerated their formation. These results contradict a serial model and favor the proposal that OFC and HC operate in parallel to extract different features defining cognitive maps and schemas.