Prefrontal Default Mode Network Interactions with Posterior Hippocampus during Exploration

Abstract

Hippocampal maps and ventral prefrontal cortex (vPFC) value and goal representations support foraging in continuous spaces. How might hippocampal–vPFC interactions control the balance between behavioral exploration and exploitation? Using fMRI and reinforcement learning modeling, we investigated vPFC and hippocampal responses as humans (38 female, 34 male) explored and exploited a continuous one-dimensional space, with out-of-session and out-of-sample replication (23 female, 20 male). The spatial distribution of rewards, or value landscape, modulated activity in the hippocampus and default network vPFC subregions, but not in ventrolateral prefrontal control subregions or medial orbitofrontal limbic subregions. While prefrontal default network and hippocampus displayed higher activity in less complex, easy-to-exploit value landscapes, vPFC–hippocampal connectivity increased in uncertain landscapes requiring exploration. Further, synchronization between prefrontal default network and posterior hippocampus scaled with behavioral exploration. Considered alongside electrophysiological studies, our findings suggest that exploration targets are identified through coordinated activity binding prefrontal default network value representations to posterior hippocampal maps.