Speaker : 정민환 교수
Time : 2017. 04. 12 (수) PM 4:30~5:45
Venue : 양분순 빌딩 207호

Abstract: Even though the role of the hippocampus in memory encoding is undisputed, a growing body of evidence indicates the involvement of the hippocampus in other important cognitive processes such as imagining hypothetical episodes and outcome evaluation. To encompass these relatively unexplored functions of the hippocampus, I will propose a new model of the hippocampus, termed simulator-evaluator model. In this model, the CA3 region (‘simulator’) generates both experienced and unexperienced event sequences, and the CA1 region functions as a value-based evaluator of CA3-generated sequences. I propose that the hypothetical simulator-evaluator design of the hippocampus may have evolved in mammals to simulate most probable and rewarding scenarios for maximizing value.