New paper in JNeuro!

In a new JNeuro paper by Yongzhen (Dory) Xie (which was selected a featured article!), we characterize how hippocampal subfields flexibly update category knowledge representations in the face of novel exceptions. By examining participants’  hippocampal representations before and after exception learning, we captured pattern differentiation and integration in DG, CA2/3, and CA1. In line with existing theories, we show that different subfields exhibit distinct representational shifts in exception learning. Interestingly, these shifts depend on exception type - the learning of a confusable exception (like dolphins that resembles fish but are mammals) involves greater differentiation in DG and integration in CA1, relative to an oddball exception (like the strange-looking platypus)!

Xie, Y., Mack, M.L. (2026). Distinct Hippocampal Subfield Representational Shifts Underlie Category Exception Learning. Journal of Neuroscience, 46(27), e1950252026. 
https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1950-25.2026