STIMULUS CONFIGURATION, LONG-TERM POTENTIATION, AND THE HIPPOCAMPUS

Shors & Matzel propose that hippocampal LTP increases the effective sa lience of discrete external stimuli and thereby facilitates the induct ion of memories at distant places. In line with this suggestion, a neu ral network model of associative learning and hippocampal function ass umes that LTP increases hippocampal error signals to the cortex, there by facilitating stimulus configuration in association cortex. Computer simulations show that under these assumptions the model correctly des cribes the effect of LTP induction and blockade in classical discrimin ations and place learning.