Linking external stimuli with internal drives: A role for the ventral hippocampus

The ventral hippocampus (vHPC) has long been thought of as the “emotional” hippocampus. Over the past several years, the complexity of vHPC has come to light, highlighting the diversity of cell types, inputs, and outputs that coordinate a constellation of positively and negatively motivated behaviors. Here, we review recent work on how vCA1 contributes to a network that associates external stimuli with internal motivational drive states to promote the selection of adaptive behavioral responses. We propose a model of vHPC function that emphasizes its role in the integration and transformation of internal and external cues to guide behavioral selection when faced with multiple potential outcomes.