A reward makes rats more likely to replay memories in reverse

(Cell Press) When a rat runs a maze and finds a reward, the first thing he does is pause to enjoy it. But inside his brain, the work isn't done. In a study published Aug. 25 in Neuron, researchers show that the rat's memories of reaching the reward play forward and backward in its hippocampus, but it's the backwards replay that increases with the size of the reward, possibly as a way to reinforce learning.

from EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science http://ift.tt/2blj3mQ