ArticleNature neuroscience2021
Mice learn multi-step routes by memorizing subgoal locations.
Article in Nature neuroscience, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Acetylcholine: a candidate substrate for hippocampal predictive learning?Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2026Review
- Vision guides directed orienting movements during obstacle avoidance in mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
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- Vector-Based Navigation Inspired by Directional Place Cells.From animals to animats : proceedings of the ... International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior. International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior · 2025Article
- Article
- Tonically active GABAergic neurons in the dorsal periaqueductal gray control instinctive escape in mice.Current biology : CB · 2024Article
- A vast space of compact strategies for effective decisions.Science advances · 2024Article
- Stochastic characterization of navigation strategies in an automated variant of the Barnes maze.eLife · 2024Article
- The successor representation subserves hierarchical abstraction for goal-directed behavior.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- Interactions between rodent visual and spatial systems during navigation.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2023Review
- Article
- Understanding the encoding of object locations in small-scale spaces during free exploration using eye tracking.Neuropsychologia · 2023Article
- Computational cross-species views of the hippocampal formation.Hippocampus · 2023Review
- Predictive maps in rats and humans for spatial navigation.Current biology : CB · 2022Article
- Innate heuristics and fast learning support escape route selection in mice.Current biology : CB · 2022Article
- Protocol to Study Spatial Subgoal Learning Using Escape Behavior in Mice.Bio-protocol · 2022Article
- Adapting hippocampus multi-scale place field distributions in cluttered environments optimizes spatial navigation and learning.Frontiers in computational neuroscience · 2022Article
- Generalized Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (G-SLAM) as unification framework for natural and artificial intelligences: towards reverse engineering the hippocampal/entorhinal system and principles of high-level cognition.Frontiers in systems neuroscience · 2022Article
- A step-by-step guide home.Nature neuroscience · 2021Article
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Abstract
The behavioral strategies that mammals use to learn multi-step routes are unknown. In this study, we investigated how mice navigate to shelter in response to threats when the direct path is blocked. Initially, they fled toward the shelter and negotiated obstacles using sensory cues. Within 20 min, they spontaneously adopted a subgoal strategy, initiating escapes by running directly to the obstacle's edge. Mice continued to escape in this manner even after the obstacle had been removed, indicating use of spatial memory. However, standard models of spatial learning-habitual movement repetition and internal map building-did not explain how subgoal memories formed. Instead, mice used a hybrid approach: memorizing salient locations encountered during spontaneous 'practice runs' to the shelter. This strategy was also used during a geometrically identical food-seeking task. These results suggest that subgoal memorization is a fundamental strategy by which rodents learn efficient multi-step routes in new environments.
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