# Relating episodic memory and episodic future thinking in hippocampus

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2020 · $437,949

## Abstract

An extensive literature suggests a role for the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus
in episodic memory, particularly in the re-construction of those memories; a
growing literature is now suggesting a role for these structures in planning and
imagination, particularly in the construction of future potential episodes, a
process termed ``episodic future thinking''. These two processes have obvious
similarities (they both entail construction of episodic representations) and obvious
differences (memory is trying to reconstruct a real past, imagination is trying to
hypothesize a potential future). However, it is not known how this neural circuit
contributes to these phenomena, nor how the information processing differs
between them. New mathematical techniques now allow decoding of
represented variables from neural ensembles at very fast timescales, enabling
the observation of transient, covert processes. The goal of this proposal is to use
these new techniques to track changes in representation at cognitive (10 ms)
timescales. Combining newly available multi-structure recording techniques,
newly developed tasks, newly improved neural ensemble analysis techniques,
and causal manipulations of the prelimbic cortex, we will examine the relationship
between the representations of past events and future possibilities in
hippocampus to determine the mechanism by which the hippocampus computes
these representations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9955388
- **Project number:** 5R01MH080318-10
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** A DAVID REDISH
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $437,949
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2008-06-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9955388

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9955388, Relating episodic memory and episodic future thinking in hippocampus (5R01MH080318-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9955388. Licensed CC0.

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