Department of Psychology, Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
Department of Psychology, Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
Neuropsychologia. 2022 Sep 9;174:108341. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108341. Epub 2022 Aug 9.
Distinct brain systems are thought to support statistical learning over different timescales. Regularities encountered during online perceptual experience can be acquired rapidly by the hippocampus. Further processing during offline consolidation can establish these regularities gradually in cortical regions, including the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). These mechanisms of statistical learning may be critical during spatial navigation, for which knowledge of the structure of an environment can facilitate future behavior. Rapid acquisition and prolonged retention of regularities have been investigated in isolation, but how they interact in the context of spatial navigation is unknown. We had the rare opportunity to study the brain systems underlying both rapid and gradual timescales of statistical learning using intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) longitudinally in the same patient over a period of three weeks. As hypothesized, spatial patterns were represented in the hippocampus but not mPFC for up to one week after statistical learning and then represented in the mPFC but not hippocampus two and three weeks after statistical learning. Taken together, these findings suggest that the hippocampus may contribute to the initial extraction of regularities prior to cortical consolidation.
不同的大脑系统被认为支持在不同时间尺度上的统计学习。海马体可以快速获取在线感知体验过程中遇到的规律。离线巩固过程中的进一步处理可以逐渐在皮质区域（包括内侧前额叶皮层）建立这些规律。这些统计学习机制在空间导航中可能至关重要，因为对环境结构的了解可以促进未来的行为。已经分别研究了快速和缓慢时间尺度上的规律获取和保持，但它们在空间导航背景下如何相互作用尚不清楚。我们有幸使用颅内脑电图（iEEG）在同一位患者中进行了为期三周的纵向研究，研究了快速和缓慢时间尺度的统计学习的大脑系统。正如假设的那样，在统计学习后长达一周的时间里，空间模式在海马体中得到了表示，但不在 mPFC 中表示，然后在统计学习后两周和三周在 mPFC 中得到了表示。总的来说，这些发现表明，海马体可能有助于在皮质整合之前初始提取规律。
