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Representational integration and differentiation in the human hippocampus following goal-directed navigation

As we learn, dynamic memory processes build structured knowledge across our experiences. Such knowledge enables the formation of internal models of the world that we use to plan, make decisions, and act. Recent theorizing posits that mnemonic mechanisms of differentiation and integration – which at one level may seem to be at odds – both contribute to the emergence of structured knowledge. We tested this possibility using fMRI as human participants learned to navigate within local and global virtual environments over the course of three days. Pattern similarity analyses on entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex patterns revealed evidence that differentiation and integration work concurrently to build local and global environmental representations, and that variability in integration relates to differences in navigation efficiency. These results offer new insights into the neural machinery and the underlying mechanisms that translate experiences into structured knowledge that allows us to navigate to achieve goals.