Daily experiences often involve the processing of multiple sequences, yet storing them challenges the limited capacity of working memory (WM). To achieve efficient memory storage, relational structures shared by sequences would be leveraged to reorganize and compress information. Here, participants memorized a sequence of items with different colors and spatial locations and later reproduced the full color and location sequences one after another. Crucially, we manipulated the consistency between location and color sequence trajectories. First, sequences with consistent trajectories demonstrate improved memory performance and a trajectory correlation between reproduced color and location sequences. Second, sequences with consistent trajectories show neural reactivation of common trajectories, and display spontaneous replay of color sequences when recalling locations. Finally, neural reactivation correlates with WM behavior. Our findings suggest that a shared common structure is leveraged for the storage of multiple sequences through compressed encoding and neural replay, together facilitating efficient information organization in WM.
When we memorize a grocery list before heading into the store, we make use of our working memory. This type of neural process allows us to temporarily store the knowledge needed for a task, yet its capacity is limited. Having to recall more than one type of information at the same time, in particular, can quickly create challenges. Exactly how the brain maximizes the use of this limited working memory space remains unclear. One possible strategy would be to take advantage of the patterns or connections that exist between seemingly unrelated pieces of information – for example, by remembering to buy apples, oranges and bananas under one broader ‘fruit’ category. To explore if this may be the case, Qiaoli Huang and Huan Luo designed a memory task in which two types of information were either connected through an underlying pattern (aligned trajectory condition) or completely independent (misaligned trajectory condition). Participants watched three colored dots appearing on screen one after the other, in such a way that they seemed to ‘travel’ around an imaginary circle. The volunteers were then asked to recall, in order, the location and color of each dot. Performance increased when color and location information were structured in the same way – that is, when both emerged from the three dots traveling around a circle or a color wheel with the same trajectory. Recording the brain activity of the participants ‘live’ as they performed the task indicates that, in the aligned trajectory condition, the brain ‘compresses’ both types of information and extracts their common structure. Even when participants were asked to recall only the location of the dots, their brain also spontaneously replayed the related color information. Taken together, these findings provide new insights into how working memory aids in multitasking, a crucial aspect of our daily lives, and lay the groundwork for further exploration of this capability.

As an evolutionarily ancient sense, olfaction is key to learning where to find food, shelter, mates, and important landmarks in an animal\'s environment. Brain circuitry linking odor and navigation appears to be a well conserved multi-region system among mammals; the anterior olfactory nucleus, piriform cortex, entorhinal cortex, and hippocampus each represent different aspects of olfactory and spatial information. We review recent advances in our understanding of the neural circuits underlying odor-place associations, highlighting key choices of behavioral task design and neural circuit manipulations for investigating learning and memory.

People form impressions about others during daily social encounters and infer personality traits from others\' behaviors. Such trait inference is thought to rely on two universal dimensions: competence and warmth. These two dimensions can be used to construct a \'social cognitive map\' organizing massive information obtained from social encounters efficiently. Originating from spatial cognition, the neural codes supporting the representation and navigation of spatial cognitive maps have been widely studied. Recent studies suggest similar neural mechanism subserves the map-like architecture in social cognition as well. Here we investigated how spatial codes operate beyond the physical environment and support the representation and navigation of social cognitive map. We designed a social value space defined by two dimensions of competence and warmth. Behaviorally, participants were able to navigate to a learned location from random starting locations in this abstract social space. At the neural level, we identified the representation of distance in the precuneus, fusiform gyrus, and middle occipital gyrus. We also found partial evidence of grid-like representation patterns in the medial prefrontal cortex and entorhinal cortex. Moreover, the intensity of grid-like response scaled with the performance of navigating in social space and social avoidance trait scores. Our findings suggest a neurocognitive mechanism by which social information can be organized into a structured representation, namely cognitive map and its relevance to social well-being.

Classic research has shown a division in the neuroanatomical structures that support flexible (e.g., short-cutting) and habitual (e.g., familiar route following) navigational behavior, with hippocampal-caudate systems associated with the former and putamen systems with the latter. There is, however, disagreement about whether the neural structures involved in navigation process particular forms of spatial information, such as associations between constellations of cues forming a cognitive map, versus single landmark-action associations, or alternatively, perform particular reinforcement learning algorithms that allow the use of different spatial strategies, so-called model-based (flexible) or model-free (habitual) forms of learning. We sought to test these theories by asking participants (N = 24) to navigate within a virtual environment through a previously learned, 9-junction route with distinctive landmarks at each junction while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In a series of probe trials, we distinguished knowledge of individual landmark-action associations along the route versus knowledge of the correct sequence of landmark-action associations, either by having absent landmarks, or \"out-of-sequence\" landmarks. Under a map-based perspective, sequence knowledge would not require hippocampal systems, because there are no constellations of cues available for cognitive map formation. Within a learning-based model, however, responding based on knowledge of sequence would require hippocampal systems because prior context has to be utilized. We found that hippocampal-caudate systems were more active in probes requiring sequence knowledge, supporting the learning-based model. However, we also found greater putamen activation in probes where navigation based purely on sequence memory could be planned, supporting models of putamen function that emphasize its role in action sequencing.

The hippocampus is one of the brain areas affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Individuals with ASD typically have impairments in hippocampus-dependent learning, memory, language ability, emotional regulation, and cognitive map creation. However, the pathological changes in the hippocampus that result in these cognitive deficits in ASD are not yet fully understood. In the present review, we will first summarize the hippocampal involvement in individuals with ASD. We will then provide an overview of hippocampal structural and functional abnormalities in genetic, environment-induced, and idiopathic animal models of ASD. Finally, we will discuss some pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions that show positive impacts on the structure and function of the hippocampus in animal models of ASD. A further comprehension of hippocampal aberrations in ASD might elucidate their influence on the manifestation of this developmental disorder and provide clues for forthcoming diagnostic and therapeutic innovation.

The activity patterns of grid cells form distinctively regular triangular lattices over the explored spatial environment and are largely invariant to visual stimuli, animal movement, and environment geometry. These neurons present numerous fascinating challenges to the curious (neuro)scientist: What are the circuit mechanisms responsible for creating spatially periodic activity patterns from the monotonic input-output responses of single neurons? How and why does the brain encode a local, nonperiodic variable-the allocentric position of the animal-with a periodic, nonlocal code? And, are grid cells truly specialized for spatial computations? Otherwise, what is their role in general cognition more broadly? We review efforts in uncovering the mechanisms and functional properties of grid cells, highlighting recent progress in the experimental validation of mechanistic grid cell models, and discuss the coding properties and functional advantages of the grid code as suggested by continuous attractor network models of grid cells.

Functional neuroimaging studies indicate that the human brain can represent concepts and their relational structure in memory using coding schemes typical of spatial navigation. However, whether we can read out the internal representational geometries of conceptual spaces solely from human behavior remains unclear. Here, we report that the relational structure between concepts in memory might be reflected in spontaneous eye movements during verbal fluency tasks: When we asked participants to randomly generate numbers, their eye movements correlated with distances along the left-to-right one-dimensional geometry of the number space (mental number line), while they scaled with distance along the ring-like two-dimensional geometry of the color space (color wheel) when they randomly generated color names. Moreover, when participants randomly produced animal names, eye movements correlated with low-dimensional similarity in word frequencies. These results suggest that the representational geometries used to internally organize conceptual spaces might be read out from gaze behavior.

This study aims to form a methodological approach to assess outsourcing business models and identify the most acceptable one for a modern enterprise. The research methodology is based on the author\'s approach, which includes cognitive map analysis and a simplicial complex. The study was tested on two Information Technology companies in Russia. Based on the determination of the profit elasticity on the manageable vertices of outsourcing business models, the most attractive in terms of efficiency criterion in the form of profit is the outsourcing business model of developing in-house non-IT services. The analysis of structural connectivity made it possible to rank the factors by the level of importance for the preservation of the business model. Modeling the effectiveness of implementing the formed outsourcing business models provided an opportunity to increase profits for the investigated IT companies by increasing the number of single-type projects. The conducted modeling of changes in relations with customers in the studied IT enterprises shows the inexpediency of changing customer relations in BM3. It is proved that certain factors can be replaced without losing the integrity of the business model. The scientific contribution of this study is the proposed methodological approach for assessing the effectiveness of an outsourcing business model. Based on the application of this methodology, the strategic objectives are linked to the business model in the process of achieving them (the achievement of strategic objectives under the influence of the selected outsourcing business model is shown).

The empowerment of people is considered as one of the most effective approaches in national healthcare systems. Identifying the effective criteria for this empowerment approach can be useful for planning enhancements. Therefore, studying and researching different aspects of people empowerment, and identifying the various relationships among related factors are of great importance. In this study - after identifying and extracting the effective factors in empowering individuals/insured persons, and interviewing health insurance and healthcare experts through content analysis - a causal model examining variables and their impact intensity through cognitive mapping is designed and drawn up. In modeling the concept of empowerment, to cover the ambiguity of expert comments, a combination of the Z-number approach with cognitive mapping has been used. Results demonstrate how various factors relate to insured empowerment. According to the results of empowerment strategies, the insurance participation strategy with the highest central index was determined as the most effective strategy, and the appropriate component for individuals gained the highest score in the centrality index. The results of this article help a lot to policy making in medical insurance.

BACKGROUND: Understanding impact of environmental properties on Alzheimer\'s disease (AD) is paramount. Spatial complexity of one\'s routinely navigated environment is an important but understudied factor.
METHODS: A total of 660 older adults from National Alzheimer\'s Coordinating Center (NACC) dataset were geolocated and environmental complexity index derived from geospatial network landmarks and points-of-interest. Latent models tested mediation of spatial navigation-relevant brain volumes and diagnosis (cognitively-healthy, mild cognitive impairment [MCI], AD) on effect of environmental complexity on spatial behavior.
RESULTS: Greater environmental complexity was selectively associated with larger allocentric (but not egocentric) navigation-related brain volumes, lesser diagnosis of MCI and AD, and better spatial behavioral performance, through indirect hierarchical mediation.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings support hypothesis that spatially complex environments positively impact navigation neural circuitry and spatial behavior function. Given the vulnerability of these very circuits to AD pathology, residing in spatially complex environments may be one factor to help stave off the brain atrophy that accompanies spatial navigation deficits across the AD spectrum.