RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The hippocampus as a predictive map JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 097170 DO 10.1101/097170 A1 Kimberly L. Stachenfeld A1 Matthew M. Botvinick A1 Samuel J. Gershman YR 2016 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/12/28/097170.abstract AB A cognitive map has long been the dominant metaphor for hippocampal function, embracing the idea that place cells encode a geometric representation of space. However, evidence for predictive coding, reward sensitivity, and policy dependence in place cells suggests that the representation is not purely spatial. We approach this puzzle from a reinforcement learning perspective: what kind of spatial representation is most useful for maximizing future reward? We show that the answer takes the form of a predictive representation. This representation captures many aspects of place cell responses that fall outside the traditional view of a cognitive map. Furthermore, we argue that entorhinal grid cells encode a low-dimensional basis set for the predictive representation, useful for suppressing noise in predictions and extracting multiscale structure for hierarchical planning.