1
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Dubanet O, Higley MJ. Retrosplenial inputs drive visual representations in the medial entorhinal cortex. Cell Rep 2024; 43:114470. [PMID: 38985682 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2024] [Revised: 05/21/2024] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024] Open
Abstract
The importance of visual cues for navigation and goal-directed behavior is well established, although the neural mechanisms supporting sensory representations in navigational circuits are largely unknown. Navigation is fundamentally dependent on the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC), which receives direct projections from neocortical visual areas, including the retrosplenial cortex (RSC). Here, we perform high-density recordings of MEC neurons in awake, head-fixed mice presented with simple visual stimuli and assess the dynamics of sensory-evoked activity. We find that a large fraction of neurons exhibit robust responses to visual input. Visually responsive cells are located primarily in layer 3 of the dorsal MEC and can be separated into subgroups based on functional and molecular properties. Furthermore, optogenetic suppression of RSC afferents within the MEC strongly reduces visual responses. Overall, our results demonstrate that the MEC can encode simple visual cues in the environment that may contribute to neural representations of location necessary for accurate navigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivier Dubanet
- Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Michael J Higley
- Department of Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
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2
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Sulpizio V, Teghil A, Pitzalis S, Boccia M. Common and specific activations supporting optic flow processing and navigation as revealed by a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies. Brain Struct Funct 2024; 229:1021-1045. [PMID: 38592557 PMCID: PMC11147901 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-024-02790-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024]
Abstract
Optic flow provides useful information in service of spatial navigation. However, whether brain networks supporting these two functions overlap is still unclear. Here we used Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) to assess the correspondence between brain correlates of optic flow processing and spatial navigation and their specific neural activations. Since computational and connectivity evidence suggests that visual input from optic flow provides information mainly during egocentric navigation, we further tested the correspondence between brain correlates of optic flow processing and that of both egocentric and allocentric navigation. Optic flow processing shared activation with egocentric (but not allocentric) navigation in the anterior precuneus, suggesting its role in providing information about self-motion, as derived from the analysis of optic flow, in service of egocentric navigation. We further documented that optic flow perception and navigation are partially segregated into two functional and anatomical networks, i.e., the dorsal and the ventromedial networks. Present results point to a dynamic interplay between the dorsal and ventral visual pathways aimed at coordinating visually guided navigation in the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Sulpizio
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Department of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, University of Molise, Campobasso, Italy
| | - Alice Teghil
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy
| | - Sabrina Pitzalis
- Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy
- Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome ''Foro Italico'', Rome, Italy
| | - Maddalena Boccia
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
- Department of Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), Rome, Italy.
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3
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Shao Q, Chen L, Li X, Li M, Cui H, Li X, Zhao X, Shi Y, Sun Q, Yan K, Wang G. A non-canonical visual cortical-entorhinal pathway contributes to spatial navigation. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4122. [PMID: 38750027 PMCID: PMC11096324 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48483-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2023] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Visual information is important for accurate spatial coding and memory-guided navigation. As a crucial area for spatial cognition, the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) harbors diverse spatially tuned cells and functions as the major gateway relaying sensory inputs to the hippocampus containing place cells. However, how visual information enters the MEC has not been fully understood. Here, we identify a pathway originating in the secondary visual cortex (V2) and directly targeting MEC layer 5a (L5a). L5a neurons served as a network hub for visual processing in the MEC by routing visual inputs from multiple V2 areas to other local neurons and hippocampal CA1. Interrupting this pathway severely impaired visual stimulus-evoked neural activity in the MEC and performance of mice in navigation tasks. These observations reveal a visual cortical-entorhinal pathway highlighting the role of MEC L5a in sensory information transmission, a function typically attributed to MEC superficial layers before.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiming Shao
- HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Ligu Chen
- HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Xiaowan Li
- HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Miao Li
- HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Hui Cui
- HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Xiaoyue Li
- HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Xinran Zhao
- HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Yuying Shi
- HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Qiang Sun
- HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Kaiyue Yan
- HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Guangfu Wang
- HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China.
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4
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Kopsick JD, Hartzell K, Lazaro H, Nambiar P, Hasselmo ME, Dannenberg H. Temporal dynamics of cholinergic activity in the septo-hippocampal system. Front Neural Circuits 2022; 16:957441. [PMID: 36092276 PMCID: PMC9452968 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2022.957441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Cholinergic projection neurons in the medial septum and diagonal band of Broca are the major source of cholinergic modulation of hippocampal circuit functions that support neural coding of location and running speed. Changes in cholinergic modulation are known to correlate with changes in brain states, cognitive functions, and behavior. However, whether cholinergic modulation can change fast enough to serve as a potential speed signal in hippocampal and parahippocampal cortices and whether the temporal dynamics in such a signal depend on the presence of visual cues remain unknown. In this study, we use a fiber-photometric approach to quantify the temporal dynamics of cholinergic activity in freely moving mice as a function of the animal's movement speed and visual cues. We show that the population activity of cholinergic neurons in the medial septum and diagonal band of Broca changes fast enough to be aligned well with changes in the animal's running speed and is strongly and linearly correlated to the logarithm of the animal's running speed. Intriguingly, the cholinergic modulation remains strongly and linearly correlated to the speed of the animal's neck movements during periods of stationary activity. Furthermore, we show that cholinergic modulation is unaltered during darkness. Lastly, we identify rearing, a stereotypic behavior where the mouse stands on its hindlimbs to scan the environment from an elevated perspective, is associated with higher cholinergic activity than expected from neck movements on the horizontal plane alone. Taken together, these data show that temporal dynamics in the cholinergic modulation of hippocampal circuits are fast enough to provide a potential running speed signal in real-time. Moreover, the data show that cholinergic modulation is primarily a function of the logarithm of the animal's movement speed, both during locomotion and during stationary activity, with no significant interaction with visual inputs. These data advance our understanding of temporal dynamics in cholinergic modulation of hippocampal circuits and their functions in the context of neural coding of location and running speed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey D. Kopsick
- Department of Bioengineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States,Interdisciplinary Program for Neuroscience, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States
| | - Kyle Hartzell
- Department of Bioengineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States
| | - Hallie Lazaro
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States,Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Pranav Nambiar
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States,Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Michael E. Hasselmo
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States,Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Holger Dannenberg
- Department of Bioengineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States,Interdisciplinary Program for Neuroscience, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States,*Correspondence: Holger Dannenberg,
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5
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Zeng T, Si B, Li X. Entorhinal-hippocampal interactions lead to globally coherent representations of space. CURRENT RESEARCH IN NEUROBIOLOGY 2022; 3:100035. [PMID: 36685760 PMCID: PMC9846457 DOI: 10.1016/j.crneur.2022.100035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2021] [Revised: 02/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The firing maps of grid cells in the entorhinal cortex are thought to provide an efficient metric system capable of supporting spatial inference in all environments. However, whether spatial representations of grid cells are determined by local environment cues or are organized into globally coherent patterns remains undetermined. We propose a navigation model containing a path integration system in the entorhinal cortex and a cognitive map system in the hippocampus. In the path integration system, grid cell network and head direction (HD) cell network integrate movement and visual information, and form attractor states to represent the positions and head directions of the animal. In the cognitive map system, a topological map is constructed capturing the attractor states of the path integration system as nodes and the transitions between attractor states as links. On loop closure, when the animal revisits a familiar place, the topological map is calibrated to minimize odometry errors. The change of the topological map is mapped back to the path integration system, to correct the states of the grid cells and the HD cells. The proposed model was tested on iRat, a rat-like miniature robot, in a realistic maze. Experimental results showed that, after familiarization of the environment, both grid cells and HD cells develop globally coherent firing maps by map calibration and activity correction. These results demonstrate that the hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex work together to form globally coherent metric representations of the environment. The underlying mechanisms of the hippocampal-entorhinal circuit in capturing the structure of the environment from sequences of experience are critical for understanding episodic memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taiping Zeng
- International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN), UTIAS, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan,Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China,Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Ministry of Education, China
| | - Bailu Si
- School of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China,Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518055, China,Corresponding author. School of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
| | - Xiaoli Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
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6
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Tukker JJ, Beed P, Brecht M, Kempter R, Moser EI, Schmitz D. Microcircuits for spatial coding in the medial entorhinal cortex. Physiol Rev 2021; 102:653-688. [PMID: 34254836 PMCID: PMC8759973 DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00042.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The hippocampal formation is critically involved in learning and memory and contains a large proportion of neurons encoding aspects of the organism’s spatial surroundings. In the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC), this includes grid cells with their distinctive hexagonal firing fields as well as a host of other functionally defined cell types including head direction cells, speed cells, border cells, and object-vector cells. Such spatial coding emerges from the processing of external inputs by local microcircuits. However, it remains unclear exactly how local microcircuits and their dynamics within the MEC contribute to spatial discharge patterns. In this review we focus on recent investigations of intrinsic MEC connectivity, which have started to describe and quantify both excitatory and inhibitory wiring in the superficial layers of the MEC. Although the picture is far from complete, it appears that these layers contain robust recurrent connectivity that could sustain the attractor dynamics posited to underlie grid pattern formation. These findings pave the way to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying spatial navigation and memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- John J Tukker
- Network Dysfunction, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Berlin, Germany
| | - Prateep Beed
- NeuroScientific Research Center, Charite Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael Brecht
- Systems Neuroscience, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Richard Kempter
- Department of Biology, Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humbolt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Edvard I Moser
- Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience and Centre for the Biology of Memory, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
| | - Dietmar Schmitz
- Neuroscience Research Center, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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7
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Dannenberg H, Lazaro H, Nambiar P, Hoyland A, Hasselmo ME. Effects of visual inputs on neural dynamics for coding of location and running speed in medial entorhinal cortex. eLife 2020; 9:62500. [PMID: 33300873 PMCID: PMC7773338 DOI: 10.7554/elife.62500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2020] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuronal representations of spatial location and movement speed in the medial entorhinal cortex during the ‘active’ theta state of the brain are important for memory-guided navigation and rely on visual inputs. However, little is known about how visual inputs change neural dynamics as a function of running speed and time. By manipulating visual inputs in mice, we demonstrate that changes in spatial stability of grid cell firing correlate with changes in a proposed speed signal by local field potential theta frequency. In contrast, visual inputs do not alter the running speed-dependent gain in neuronal firing rates. Moreover, we provide evidence that sensory inputs other than visual inputs can support grid cell firing, though less accurately, in complete darkness. Finally, changes in spatial accuracy of grid cell firing on a 10 s time scale suggest that grid cell firing is a function of velocity signals integrated over past time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holger Dannenberg
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, United States
| | - Hallie Lazaro
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, United States
| | - Pranav Nambiar
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, United States
| | - Alec Hoyland
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, United States
| | - Michael E Hasselmo
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, United States
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8
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Powell A, Connelly WM, Vasalauskaite A, Nelson AJD, Vann SD, Aggleton JP, Sengpiel F, Ranson A. Stable Encoding of Visual Cues in the Mouse Retrosplenial Cortex. Cereb Cortex 2020; 30:4424-4437. [PMID: 32147692 PMCID: PMC7438634 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The rodent retrosplenial cortex (RSC) functions as an integrative hub for sensory and motor signals, serving roles in both navigation and memory. While RSC is reciprocally connected with the sensory cortex, the form in which sensory information is represented in the RSC and how it interacts with motor feedback is unclear and likely to be critical to computations involved in navigation such as path integration. Here, we used 2-photon cellular imaging of neural activity of putative excitatory (CaMKII expressing) and inhibitory (parvalbumin expressing) neurons to measure visual and locomotion evoked activity in RSC and compare it to primary visual cortex (V1). We observed stimulus position and orientation tuning, and a retinotopic organization. Locomotion modulation of activity of single neurons, both in darkness and light, was more pronounced in RSC than V1, and while locomotion modulation was strongest in RSC parvalbumin-positive neurons, visual-locomotion integration was found to be more supralinear in CaMKII neurons. Longitudinal measurements showed that response properties were stably maintained over many weeks. These data provide evidence for stable representations of visual cues in RSC that are spatially selective. These may provide sensory data to contribute to the formation of memories of spatial information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Powell
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, CF10 3AS Cardiff, UK
| | | | | | | | | | - John P Aggleton
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, CF10 3AS Cardiff, UK
| | - Frank Sengpiel
- School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3AX, UK.,Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Adam Ranson
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, UK.,Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Basic Sciences, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, 08195, Spain.,Institut de Neurociènces, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193, Spain
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9
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Munn RGK, Mallory CS, Hardcastle K, Chetkovich DM, Giocomo LM. Entorhinal velocity signals reflect environmental geometry. Nat Neurosci 2020; 23:239-251. [PMID: 31932764 PMCID: PMC7007349 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0562-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2018] [Accepted: 11/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
The entorhinal cortex contains neurons that represent self-location, including grid cells that fire in periodic locations and velocity signals that encode running speed and head direction. Although the size and shape of the environment influence grid patterns, whether entorhinal velocity signals are equally influenced or provide a universal metric for self-motion across environments remains unknown. Here we report that speed cells rescale after changes to the size and shape of the environment. Moreover, head direction cells reorganize in an experience-dependent manner to align with the axis of environmental change. A knockout mouse model allows dissociation of the coordination between cell types, with grid and speed cells, but not head direction cells, responding in concert to environmental change. These results point to malleability in the coding features of multiple entorhinal cell types and have implications for which cell types contribute to the velocity signal used by computational models of grid cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert G K Munn
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
| | - Caitlin S Mallory
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Kiah Hardcastle
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Dane M Chetkovich
- Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Lisa M Giocomo
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
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10
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Campbell MG, Giocomo LM. Self-motion processing in visual and entorhinal cortices: inputs, integration, and implications for position coding. J Neurophysiol 2018; 120:2091-2106. [PMID: 30089025 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00686.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The sensory signals generated by self-motion are complex and multimodal, but the ability to integrate these signals into a unified self-motion percept to guide navigation is essential for animal survival. Here, we summarize classic and recent work on self-motion coding in the visual and entorhinal cortices of the rodent brain. We compare motion processing in rodent and primate visual cortices, highlighting the strengths of classic primate work in establishing causal links between neural activity and perception, and discuss the integration of motor and visual signals in rodent visual cortex. We then turn to the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC), where calculations using self-motion to update position estimates are thought to occur. We focus on several key sources of self-motion information to MEC: the medial septum, which provides locomotor speed information; visual cortex, whose input has been increasingly recognized as essential to both position and speed-tuned MEC cells; and the head direction system, which is a major source of directional information for self-motion estimates. These inputs create a large and diverse group of self-motion codes in MEC, and great interest remains in how these self-motion codes might be integrated by MEC grid cells to estimate position. However, which signals are used in these calculations and the mechanisms by which they are integrated remain controversial. We end by proposing future experiments that could further our understanding of the interactions between MEC cells that code for self-motion and position and clarify the relationship between the activity of these cells and spatial perception.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lisa M Giocomo
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University , Stanford, California
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11
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Hinman JR, Dannenberg H, Alexander AS, Hasselmo ME. Neural mechanisms of navigation involving interactions of cortical and subcortical structures. J Neurophysiol 2018; 119:2007-2029. [PMID: 29442559 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00498.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals must perform spatial navigation for a range of different behaviors, including selection of trajectories toward goal locations and foraging for food sources. To serve this function, a number of different brain regions play a role in coding different dimensions of sensory input important for spatial behavior, including the entorhinal cortex, the retrosplenial cortex, the hippocampus, and the medial septum. This article will review data concerning the coding of the spatial aspects of animal behavior, including location of the animal within an environment, the speed of movement, the trajectory of movement, the direction of the head in the environment, and the position of barriers and objects both relative to the animal's head direction (egocentric) and relative to the layout of the environment (allocentric). The mechanisms for coding these important spatial representations are not yet fully understood but could involve mechanisms including integration of self-motion information or coding of location based on the angle of sensory features in the environment. We will review available data and theories about the mechanisms for coding of spatial representations. The computation of different aspects of spatial representation from available sensory input requires complex cortical processing mechanisms for transformation from egocentric to allocentric coordinates that will only be understood through a combination of neurophysiological studies and computational modeling.
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Affiliation(s)
- James R Hinman
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University , Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Holger Dannenberg
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University , Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Andrew S Alexander
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University , Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Michael E Hasselmo
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University , Boston, Massachusetts
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12
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Context-dependent spatially periodic activity in the human entorhinal cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:E3516-E3525. [PMID: 28396399 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1701352114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The spatially periodic activity of grid cells in the entorhinal cortex (EC) of the rodent, primate, and human provides a coordinate system that, together with the hippocampus, informs an individual of its location relative to the environment and encodes the memory of that location. Among the most defining features of grid-cell activity are the 60° rotational symmetry of grids and preservation of grid scale across environments. Grid cells, however, do display a limited degree of adaptation to environments. It remains unclear if this level of environment invariance generalizes to human grid-cell analogs, where the relative contribution of visual input to the multimodal sensory input of the EC is significantly larger than in rodents. Patients diagnosed with nontractable epilepsy who were implanted with entorhinal cortical electrodes performing virtual navigation tasks to memorized locations enabled us to investigate associations between grid-like patterns and environment. Here, we report that the activity of human entorhinal cortical neurons exhibits adaptive scaling in grid period, grid orientation, and rotational symmetry in close association with changes in environment size, shape, and visual cues, suggesting scale invariance of the frequency, rather than the wavelength, of spatially periodic activity. Our results demonstrate that neurons in the human EC represent space with an enhanced flexibility relative to neurons in rodents because they are endowed with adaptive scalability and context dependency.
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13
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Grieves RM, Jeffery KJ. The representation of space in the brain. Behav Processes 2017; 135:113-131. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2016.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2016] [Revised: 12/09/2016] [Accepted: 12/19/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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14
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Nolan MF. Neural mechanisms for spatial computation. J Physiol 2016; 594:6487-6488. [PMID: 27870122 PMCID: PMC5108904 DOI: 10.1113/jp273087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew F Nolan
- Centre for Integrative Physiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9XD, UK
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15
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Dannenberg H, Hinman JR, Hasselmo ME. Potential roles of cholinergic modulation in the neural coding of location and movement speed. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016; 110:52-64. [PMID: 27677935 DOI: 10.1016/j.jphysparis.2016.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2016] [Revised: 09/06/2016] [Accepted: 09/23/2016] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Behavioral data suggest that cholinergic modulation may play a role in certain aspects of spatial memory, and neurophysiological data demonstrate neurons that fire in response to spatial dimensions, including grid cells and place cells that respond on the basis of location and running speed. These neurons show firing responses that depend upon the visual configuration of the environment, due to coding in visually-responsive regions of the neocortex. This review focuses on the physiological effects of acetylcholine that may influence the sensory coding of spatial dimensions relevant to behavior. In particular, the local circuit effects of acetylcholine within the cortex regulate the influence of sensory input relative to internal memory representations via presynaptic inhibition of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission, and the modulation of intrinsic currents in cortical excitatory and inhibitory neurons. In addition, circuit effects of acetylcholine regulate the dynamics of cortical circuits including oscillations at theta and gamma frequencies. These effects of acetylcholine on local circuits and network dynamics could underlie the role of acetylcholine in coding of spatial information for the performance of spatial memory tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holger Dannenberg
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Memory and Brain, Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, 2 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
| | - James R Hinman
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Memory and Brain, Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, 2 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
| | - Michael E Hasselmo
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Memory and Brain, Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, 2 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
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Chen G, Manson D, Cacucci F, Wills TJ. Absence of Visual Input Results in the Disruption of Grid Cell Firing in the Mouse. Curr Biol 2016; 26:2335-42. [PMID: 27498565 PMCID: PMC5026695 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.06.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2016] [Revised: 05/30/2016] [Accepted: 06/20/2016] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Grid cells are spatially modulated neurons within the medial entorhinal cortex whose firing fields are arranged at the vertices of tessellating equilateral triangles [1]. The exquisite periodicity of their firing has led to the suggestion that they represent a path integration signal, tracking the organism’s position by integrating speed and direction of movement [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. External sensory inputs are required to reset any errors that the path integrator would inevitably accumulate. Here we probe the nature of the external sensory inputs required to sustain grid firing, by recording grid cells as mice explore familiar environments in complete darkness. The absence of visual cues results in a significant disruption of grid cell firing patterns, even when the quality of the directional information provided by head direction cells is largely preserved. Darkness alters the expression of velocity signaling within the entorhinal cortex, with changes evident in grid cell firing rate and the local field potential theta frequency. Short-term (<1.5 s) spike timing relationships between grid cell pairs are preserved in the dark, indicating that network patterns of excitatory and inhibitory coupling between grid cells exist independently of visual input and of spatially periodic firing. However, we find no evidence of preserved hexagonal symmetry in the spatial firing of single grid cells at comparable short timescales. Taken together, these results demonstrate that visual input is required to sustain grid cell periodicity and stability in mice and suggest that grid cells in mice cannot perform accurate path integration in the absence of reliable visual cues. Grid cell firing patterns are disrupted in darkness in the mouse Grid cells are disrupted even when head direction cell signaling is preserved Absence of visual input alters movement velocity modulation of theta frequency Temporal firing relationships between grid cell pairs are preserved in the dark
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Affiliation(s)
- Guifen Chen
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology, UCL, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
| | - Daniel Manson
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, UCL, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology, UCL, Gower Place, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Francesca Cacucci
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology, UCL, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
| | - Thomas Joseph Wills
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, UCL, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
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Raudies F, Hinman JR, Hasselmo ME. Modelling effects on grid cells of sensory input during self-motion. J Physiol 2016; 594:6513-6526. [PMID: 27094096 DOI: 10.1113/jp270649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2015] [Accepted: 01/29/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The neural coding of spatial location for memory function may involve grid cells in the medial entorhinal cortex, but the mechanism of generating the spatial responses of grid cells remains unclear. This review describes some current theories and experimental data concerning the role of sensory input in generating the regular spatial firing patterns of grid cells, and changes in grid cell firing fields with movement of environmental barriers. As described here, the influence of visual features on spatial firing could involve either computations of self-motion based on optic flow, or computations of absolute position based on the angle and distance of static visual cues. Due to anatomical selectivity of retinotopic processing, the sensory features on the walls of an environment may have a stronger effect on ventral grid cells that have wider spaced firing fields, whereas the sensory features on the ground plane may influence the firing of dorsal grid cells with narrower spacing between firing fields. These sensory influences could contribute to the potential functional role of grid cells in guiding goal-directed navigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Raudies
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Centre for Memory and Brain, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, 2 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - James R Hinman
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Centre for Memory and Brain, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, 2 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Michael E Hasselmo
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Centre for Memory and Brain, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, 2 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
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18
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Functional connections between optic flow areas and navigationally responsive brain regions during goal-directed navigation. Neuroimage 2015; 118:386-96. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2015] [Revised: 05/27/2015] [Accepted: 06/02/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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Hasselmo ME. If I had a million neurons: Potential tests of cortico-hippocampal theories. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2015; 219:1-19. [PMID: 26072231 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2015.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Considerable excitement surrounds new initiatives to develop techniques for simultaneous recording of large populations of neurons in cortical structures. This chapter focuses on the potential value of large-scale simultaneous recording for advancing research on current issues in the function of cortical circuits, including the interaction of the hippocampus with cortical and subcortical structures. The review describes specific research questions that could be answered using large-scale population recording, including questions about the circuit dynamics underlying coding of dimensions of space and time for episodic memory, the role of GABAergic and cholinergic innervation from the medial septum, the functional role of spatial representations coded by grid cells, boundary cells, head direction cells, and place cells, and the fact that many models require cells coding movement direction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael E Hasselmo
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Memory and Brain, Center for Systems Neuroscience, Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
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20
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Hasselmo ME, Stern CE. Current questions on space and time encoding. Hippocampus 2015; 25:744-52. [PMID: 25786389 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.22454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/17/2015] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014 celebrated the groundbreaking findings on place cells and grid cells by John O'Keefe and May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser. These findings provided an essential foothold for understanding the cognitive encoding of space and time in episodic memory function. This foothold provides a closer view of a broad new world of important research questions raised by the phenomena of place cells and grid cells. These questions concern the mechanisms of generation of place and grid cell firing, including sensory influences, circuit dynamics and intrinsic properties. Similar questions concern the generation of time cells. In addition, questions concern the functional role of place cells, grid cells and time cells in mediating goal-directed behavior and episodic memory function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael E Hasselmo
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Center for Memory and Brain, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Chantal E Stern
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Center for Memory and Brain, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
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Raudies F, Brandon MP, Chapman GW, Hasselmo ME. Head direction is coded more strongly than movement direction in a population of entorhinal neurons. Brain Res 2014; 1621:355-67. [PMID: 25451111 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2014.10.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2014] [Revised: 10/23/2014] [Accepted: 10/26/2014] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
The spatial firing pattern of entorhinal grid cells may be important for navigation. Many different computational models of grid cell firing use path integration based on movement direction and the associated movement speed to drive grid cells. However, the response of neurons to movement direction has rarely been tested, in contrast to multiple studies showing responses of neurons to head direction. Here, we analyzed the difference between head direction and movement direction during rat movement and analyzed cells recorded from entorhinal cortex for their tuning to movement direction. During foraging behavior, movement direction differs significantly from head direction. The analysis of neuron responses shows that only 5 out of 758 medial entorhinal cells show significant coding for both movement direction and head direction when evaluating periods of rat behavior with speeds above 10 cm/s and ±30° angular difference between movement and head direction. None of the cells coded movement direction alone. In contrast, 21 cells in this population coded only head direction during behavioral epochs with these constraints, indicating much stronger coding of head direction in this population. This suggests that the movement direction signal required by most grid cell models may arise from other brain structures than the medial entorhinal cortex. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Brain and Memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Raudies
- Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, Boston University, 677 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Center of Excellence for Learning in Education, Science, and Technology, Boston University, 677 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Mark P Brandon
- Division of Biological Science, University of California, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92093-0357, USA
| | - G William Chapman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Systems Neuroscience and Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, 2 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Michael E Hasselmo
- Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, Boston University, 677 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Center of Excellence for Learning in Education, Science, and Technology, Boston University, 677 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Systems Neuroscience and Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, 2 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA
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Gupta K, Erdem UM, Hasselmo ME. Modeling of grid cell activity demonstrates in vivo entorhinal 'look-ahead' properties. Neuroscience 2013; 247:395-411. [PMID: 23660194 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2013.04.056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2012] [Revised: 04/25/2013] [Accepted: 04/26/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Recent in vivo data show ensemble activity in medial entorhinal neurons that demonstrates 'look-ahead' activity, decoding spatially to reward locations ahead of a rat deliberating at a choice point while performing a cued, appetitive T-Maze task. To model this experiment's look-ahead results, we adapted previous work that produced a model where scans along equally probable directions activated place cells, associated reward cells, grid cells, and persistent spiking cells along those trajectories. Such look-ahead activity may be a function of animals performing scans to reduce ambiguity while making decisions. In our updated model, look-ahead scans at the choice point can activate goal-associated reward and place cells, which indicate the direction the virtual rat should turn at the choice point. Hebbian associations between stimulus and reward cell layers are learned during training trials, and the reward and place layers are then used during testing to retrieve goal-associated cells based on cue presentation. This system creates representations of location and associated reward information based on only two inputs of heading and speed information which activate grid cell and place cell layers. We present spatial and temporal decoding of grid cell ensembles as rats are tested with perfect and imperfect stimuli. Here, the virtual rat reliably learns goal locations through training sessions and performs both biased and unbiased look-ahead scans at the choice point. Spatial and temporal decoding of simulated medial entorhinal activity indicates that ensembles are representing forward reward locations when the animal deliberates at the choice point, emulating in vivo results.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Gupta
- Center for Memory and Brain, Boston University, 2 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
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Raudies F, Hasselmo ME. Modeling boundary vector cell firing given optic flow as a cue. PLoS Comput Biol 2012; 8:e1002553. [PMID: 22761557 PMCID: PMC3386186 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2011] [Accepted: 04/25/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Boundary vector cells in entorhinal cortex fire when a rat is in locations at a specific distance from walls of an environment. This firing may originate from memory of the barrier location combined with path integration, or the firing may depend upon the apparent visual input image stream. The modeling work presented here investigates the role of optic flow, the apparent change of patterns of light on the retina, as input for boundary vector cell firing. Analytical spherical flow is used by a template model to segment walls from the ground, to estimate self-motion and the distance and allocentric direction of walls, and to detect drop-offs. Distance estimates of walls in an empty circular or rectangular box have a mean error of less than or equal to two centimeters. Integrating these estimates into a visually driven boundary vector cell model leads to the firing patterns characteristic for boundary vector cells. This suggests that optic flow can influence the firing of boundary vector cells. Over the past few decades a variety of cells in hippocampal structures have been analyzed and their function has been identified. Head direction cells indicate the world-centered direction of the animals head like a compass. Place cells fire in locations associated with visual, auditory, or olfactory cues. Grid cells fill open space like a carpet with their mosaic of firing. Boundary vector cells fire, if a boundary that cannot be passed by the animal appears at a certain distance and world-centered direction. All these cells are players in the navigation game; however, their interaction and linkage to sensory systems like vision and memory is not fully understood. Our model analyzes a potential link between the visual system and boundary vector cells. As part of the visual system, we model optic flow that is available to rats. Optic flow is defined as change of lightness patterns on the retina and contains information about self-motion and environment. This optic flow is used in our model to estimate the distance and direction of boundaries. Our model simulations suggest a link between optic flow and the firing of boundary vector cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Raudies
- Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology-CompNet, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
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