 The hippocampus plays an important role in spatial navigation as it helps us form mental maps of our environment and plan out routes to reach our desired destinations. In this study, researchers examined the brain activity of participants while they were performing a goal directed navigation task. They found that when planning for a route, the hippocampus was more likely to activate when two routes shared a common context and a goal. Additionally, when participants reached a decision point, the hippocampus showed increased activity which reflected the retrieval of relevant information from the previous context. This suggests that the hippocampus may be involved in integrating context and goal information into the formation of navigational plans. This article was authored by Jordan Kriviledekar, Alex Clark, Siong Min-Ae Park, and others.