Neuronal encoding of objects and place in hippocampus: the value of objects shapes memory

Neuronal encoding of environmental information has long been in the focus of neuroscience. Neurophysiological studies showed that neuronal activity changes specifically when animals become familiar with space or objects. However, despite a considerable amount of experimental data, the specific neural basis of place and object encoding remains an open question. The goal of the present study was to examine how the hippocampus encodes information about the place and various types and values of objects at the level of individual neurons, and also to determine stability and variability of cognitive maps over time and the presentation of novel objects.