Unifying Subicular Function: A Predictive Map Approach

The successor representation has emerged as a powerful model for understanding mammalian navigation and memory; explaining the spatial coding properties of hippocampal place cells and entorhinal grid cells. However, the diverse spatial responses of subicular neurons, the primary output of the hippocampus, have eluded a unified account. Here, we demonstrate that incorporating rodent behavioural biases into the successor representation successfully reproduces the heterogeneous activity patterns of subicular neurons. This framework accounts for the emergence of boundary and corner cells; neuronal types absent in upstream hippocampal regions. We provide evidence that subicular firing patterns are more accurately described by the successor representation than a purely spatial or boundary vector cell model of subiculum. Our work offers a unifying theory of subicular function that positions the subiculum, more than other hippocampal regions, as a predictive map of the environment.