---
OA_embargo: 6 months
OA_place: publisher
_id: '19456'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: "Making decisions requires flexibly adapting to changing environments, a process
    that\r\ndepends on accurately interpreting current contingencies and integrating
    them with\r\npast experience. Two brain regions are particularly critical for
    this process, the medial\r\nprefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the hippocampus. Using
    contextual information from the\r\nhippocampus, the mPFC selects relevant cognitive
    frameworks and suppresses\r\nirrelevant ones to guide appropriate actions. Several
    studies have shown that some\r\nmPFC pyramidal neurons become spatially tuned
    when spatial information is required\r\nto guide goal-directed behavior. However,
    the role of prefrontal spatial representations\r\nin learning and decision making
    is not well understood. This work aims to characterize\r\nthe role of mPFC spatial
    tuning in supporting a contextual association task. Rats were\r\ntrained to learn
    two cue–location associations on a radial arm maze over multiple days,\r\nwhile
    we simultaneously recorded from dorsal CA1 of the hippocampus and the\r\nprelimbic
    area of the mPFC. We describe a subset of spatially tuned hippocampal and\r\nprefrontal
    pyramidal neurons that “flicker” between multiple spatial representations on\r\ndifferent
    trials, suggesting dynamic, context-dependent coding. This flickering may\r\nprovide
    a substrate for how the network reorganizes in response to task demands,\r\nlikely
    by enabling the flexible evaluation of competing representations. "
acknowledged_ssus:
- _id: PreCl
- _id: Bio
- _id: LifeSc
- _id: M-Shop
alternative_title:
- ISTA Thesis
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Andrea D
  full_name: Cumpelik, Andrea D
  id: 3F158B32-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Cumpelik
  orcid: 0000-0003-1727-6612
citation:
  ama: Cumpelik AD. The role of prefrontal spatial coding in supporting a contextual
    association task. 2025. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19456">10.15479/AT-ISTA-19456</a>
  apa: Cumpelik, A. D. (2025). <i>The role of prefrontal spatial coding in supporting
    a contextual association task</i>. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.
    <a href="https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19456">https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19456</a>
  chicago: Cumpelik, Andrea D. “The Role of Prefrontal Spatial Coding in Supporting
    a Contextual Association Task.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025.
    <a href="https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19456">https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19456</a>.
  ieee: A. D. Cumpelik, “The role of prefrontal spatial coding in supporting a contextual
    association task,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025.
  ista: Cumpelik AD. 2025. The role of prefrontal spatial coding in supporting a contextual
    association task. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.
  mla: Cumpelik, Andrea D. <i>The Role of Prefrontal Spatial Coding in Supporting
    a Contextual Association Task</i>. Institute of Science and Technology Austria,
    2025, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19456">10.15479/AT-ISTA-19456</a>.
  short: A.D. Cumpelik, The Role of Prefrontal Spatial Coding in Supporting a Contextual
    Association Task, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025.
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2025-03-25T11:22:38Z
date_published: 2025-02-18T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-04-07T12:37:58Z
day: '18'
ddc:
- '612'
degree_awarded: PhD
department:
- _id: GradSch
- _id: JoCs
doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-19456
file:
- access_level: open_access
  checksum: 1c7573303d8e5f6da3eb03d59055390f
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: acumpeli
  date_created: 2025-03-25T11:07:55Z
  date_updated: 2025-09-30T22:30:02Z
  embargo: 2025-09-30
  file_id: '19457'
  file_name: 2025_Thesis_Cumpelik_corrections_PDFA.pdf
  file_size: 11869040
  relation: main_file
- access_level: closed
  checksum: b93265ebd9a53f7a14100d0d48b4ff5b
  content_type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
  creator: acumpeli
  date_created: 2025-03-25T11:08:05Z
  date_updated: 2025-09-30T22:30:02Z
  embargo_to: open_access
  file_id: '19458'
  file_name: 2025_Thesis_Cumpelik_corrections.docx
  file_size: 20436467
  relation: source_file
file_date_updated: 2025-09-30T22:30:02Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
keyword:
- neuroscience
- decision making
- learning
- cognitive flexibility
- medial prefrontal cortex
- hippocampus
- electrophysiology
language:
- iso: eng
month: '02'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: '96'
publication_identifier:
  isbn:
  - 978-3-99078-056-5
  issn:
  - 2663-337X
publication_status: published
publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria
status: public
supervisor:
- first_name: Jozsef L
  full_name: Csicsvari, Jozsef L
  id: 3FA14672-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Csicsvari
  orcid: 0000-0002-5193-4036
title: The role of prefrontal spatial coding in supporting a contextual association
  task
type: dissertation
user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd
year: '2025'
...