Hippocampal circuit dynamics in learning and value processing of sensory cues : A study into the function of hippocampal microcircuits involving OLMα2 cells

The anatomical signatures of the mnemonic/emotional processes share many brain structures, one of which seems to constitute a bridge, the hippocampus. It functions as a structure that consolidates engrams. It is connected to the prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens and amygdala, structures that provide emotional salience. This is, from an evolutionary perspective, likely a selection of fitness relevant engrams. Inputs from such structures to the hippocampus increase the likelihood of engram consolidation and behavioral response into long-term deposits. The hippocampal input pathways appear to be of importance for encoding and retrieval processes. During first encounters, entorhinal temporoammonic inputs are necessary for identifying probable threats and encoding of environmental cues. We find that artificial silencing of gate keeper neurons, named oriens lacunosum-moleculare (OLM) cells, increases approach and memory recall of novel cues in several tasks. Further, silencing of OLM cells mediates effective learning by increasing promiscuity in pyramidal cells in response to incoming sensory and/or emotional value inputs from other limbic structures, such as the basolateral amygdala. Depending on the dorsoventral position of the OLM cells, different phenotypes can be observed in different tasks. This is likely, at least in part, because of dorso-ventral differences in the connections between the hippocampus and other structures. In addition, OLM cells can control the specific oscillation frequency theta II (6-8 Hz), which appears in the ventral hippocampus and facilitates approach to predator odors. In conclusion, we show that the hippocampal circuit involving a subtype of OLM cells, is processing value of sensory cues through the temporoammonic pathway, and possibly affecting the basolateral amygdala inputs