Figure 5.

Replay as planning.

(A) Disrupting sharp wave ripples at decision points in a spatial alternation task (‘W maze’) was associated with impaired performance compared to control animals (left). When sharp wave ripples were disrupted at non-decision points performance was preserved (right) [120]. (B) Replay was recorded at the corners of a Z-shaped track preceding correct and incorrect turns. When replay depicted positions consistent with the animals’ current positions (for example, proximal locations, left) the rats were more likely to make the correct turn (right). Whereas if replay depicted positions not immediately relevant to current behaviour (middle), animals were less likely to make the correct turn (right) [122]. (C) Following training on an inhibitory avoidance task (learning to associate the end of a linear runway with a foot shock), replay during pauses preceding entry to a shock zone preferentially depicted paths towards the feared zone (top) and was associated with the animals turning away from the shock zone and running in the opposite direction (bottom) [121].