Neural correlates of locomotion, cues, and context in the interactions between hippocampus and lateral septum

Abstract

The lateral septum (LS) has been implicated in anxiety and fear modulation, and may regulate interactions between the hippocampus (HPC) and regions that mediate goal directed behavior. In this study, we simultaneously record from cells in the LS and the HPC during navigation and conditioning tasks. We identify a speed and acceleration spiking code in the LS that does not map to states of motivation or anticipation. We also identify an overlapping population of LS cells that change firing to cue and reward during conditioning. These cells display sharp wave ripple and theta modulation, spatial firing fields, and responses similar to the HPC during conditioning. These HPC-associated cells are not disproportionately speed or acceleration modulated, suggesting that these movement correlates are not hippocampally derived. This suggests a role for the LS in evaluating movement-dependent changes in context that can be used to guide task-relevant behavior.