Communication of perceptual predictions from the hippocampus to the deep layers of the parahippocampal cortex | Science Advances

Current evidence suggests that the hippocampus is essential for exploiting predictive relationships during perception. However, it remains unclear whether the hippocampus drives the communication of predictions to sensory cortex or receives prediction signals from elsewhere. We collected 7-tesla fMRI data in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) while auditory cues predicted abstract shapes. Strikingly, neural patterns evoked by predicted shapes in CA2/3, pre/parasubiculum, and the parahippocampal cortex (PHC) were negatively correlated to patterns evoked by the same shapes when actually presented. Using layer-specific analyses, we ask: In which direction are predictions communicated between the hippocampus and neocortex? Superficial layers of the MTL cortex project to the hippocampus, while the deep layers receive feedback projections. Informational connectivity analyses revealed that communication between CA2/3 and PHC was specific to the deep layers of PHC. These findings suggest that the hippocampus generates predictions through pattern completion in CA2/3 and feeds these predictions back to the neocortex.