Remembering the past and planning for the future in rats

A growing body of research suggests that rats represent and remember specific earlier events from the past. An important criterion for validating a rodent model of episodic memory is to establish that the content of the representation is about a specific event in the past rather than vague information about remoteness. Recent evidence suggests that rats may also represent events that are anticipated to occur in the future. An important capacity afforded by a representation of the future is the ability to plan for the occurrence of a future event. However, relatively little is known about the content of represented future events and the cognitive mechanisms that may support planning. This article reviews evidence that rats remember specific earlier events from the past, represent events that are anticipated to occur in the future, and develops criteria for validating a rodent model of future planning. These criteria include representing a specific time in the future, the ability to temporarily disengage from a plan and reactivate the plan at an appropriate time in the future, and flexibility to deploy a plan in novel conditions.

► Rats’ memory for the past and planning for the future support the following. ► Memory of a specific earlier episode including what–where–when information. ► Memory of an incidentally encoded event using hippocampal-dependent episodic memory. ► A selective impairment in performance near the time of an anticipated future event. ► Criteria for validating a rodent model of future planning are outlined.