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Abstract

Abstract thought, reasoning, and generalized intelligence are based on the ability to form an internal cognitive representation of the external world. Previous studies have shown that mammals can form such representations using computational units like place cells and grid cells. Furthermore, these cognitive representations are subject to control by an animal’s internal state. During exploratory states, sensory information updates and stabilizes an animal’s current spatial cognitive map. During quiescent states, offline reactivation of place cells is believed to be key to memory consolidation and planning. We investigate for the first time state-dependent spatial cognition using larval zebrafish, which diverged from mammals over 400 million years ago and possess the smallest nervous system among all vertebrate model organisms. Using a state-of-the-art tracking microscope, we find evidence that not only can zebrafish generate a spatial cognitive map through a population of place cells, but also that place cell ensembles in the zebrafish telencephalon exhibit internal-state dependent reactivation. We will highlight the unique dynamic features of this system and discuss their implications for building efficient recurrent neural networks for state-dependent cognition.