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The puzzle of spontaneous alternation and inhibition of return: How they might fit together
Author(s) -
Phillmore Leslie S.,
Klein Raymond M.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
hippocampus
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.767
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1098-1063
pISSN - 1050-9631
DOI - 10.1002/hipo.23102
Subject(s) - inhibition of return , alternation (linguistics) , novelty , spontaneous alternation , neuroscience , psychology , superior colliculus , hippocampus , cognitive psychology , cognition , visual attention , social psychology , linguistics , philosophy
Two isolated spatial phenomena share a similar “been there; done that” effect on spatial behavior. Originally discovered in rodent learning experiments, spontaneous alternation is a tendency for the organism to visit a different arm in a T‐maze on subsequent trials. Originally discovered in human studies of attention, inhibition of return is a tendency for the organism to orient away from a previously attended location. Whereas spontaneous alternation was identified by O'Keefe & Nadel as dependent on an intact hippocampus, inhibition of return is dependent on neural structures that participate in oculomotor control (the superior colliculus, parietal and frontal cortex). Despite the isolated literatures, each phenomenon has been assumed to reflect a basic novelty‐seeking process, avoiding places previously visited or locations attended. In this commentary, we explore and compare the behavioral manifestations and neural underpinnings of these two phenomena, and suggest what is still needed to determine whether they operate in parallel or serial.