Prefrontal-hippocampal communication, supported by both direct and indirect anatomical pathways, is essential for a range of cognitive functions, including spatial navigation. The midline thalamic nucleus reuniens (RE) has been proposed as a key hub along this indirect pathway, coordinating bidirectional interactions between the hippocampus (HC) and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Here, we investigated functional dynamics within the HC-RE-PFC network as adult male rats learned to navigate a complex maze. Initial behavioral analyses revealed three distinct learning phases: exploration, goal-oriented learning, and efficient navigation. Aligning neural data with subject-specific transitions between these phases uncovered distinct neural signatures associated with each learning phase. Notably, the transition from exploratory to goal-directed behavior was accompanied by the emergence of persistent HC-RE beta-band (15-25Hz) interactions, including elevated beta coherence, theta-beta phase-amplitude coupling, and HC-to-RE Granger causality. The interactions further scaled with navigational efficiency, showing increased HC-RE beta coherence in trials without errors. Together, these findings provide new evidence for dynamic HC-RE interactions during goal-directed navigation and support an emerging view that RE functions as a working memory buffer for route-related information, revealing a potential network mechanism underlying flexible spatial behavior.
Baumann, T., Mei, H., Eschenko, O.
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