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Yang X, Cacucci F, Burgess N, Wills TJ, Chen G. Visual boundary cues suffice to anchor place and grid cells in virtual reality. Curr Biol 2024; 34:2256-2264.e3. [PMID: 38701787 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.04.026] [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: 10/17/2023] [Revised: 03/01/2024] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024]
Abstract
The hippocampal formation contains neurons responsive to an animal's current location and orientation, which together provide the organism with a neural map of space.1,2,3 Spatially tuned neurons rely on external landmark cues and internally generated movement information to estimate position.4,5 An important class of landmark cue are the boundaries delimiting an environment, which can define place cell field position6,7 and stabilize grid cell firing.8 However, the precise nature of the sensory information used to detect boundaries remains unknown. We used 2-dimensional virtual reality (VR)9 to show that visual cues from elevated walls surrounding the environment are both sufficient and necessary to stabilize place and grid cell responses in VR, when only visual and self-motion cues are available. By contrast, flat boundaries formed by the edges of a textured floor did not stabilize place and grid cells, indicating only specific forms of visual boundary stabilize hippocampal spatial firing. Unstable grid cells retain internally coherent, hexagonally arranged firing fields, but these fields "drift" with respect to the virtual environment over periods >5 s. Optic flow from a virtual floor does not slow drift dynamics, emphasizing the importance of boundary-related visual information. Surprisingly, place fields are more stable close to boundaries even with floor and wall cues removed, suggesting invisible boundaries are inferred using the motion of a discrete, separate cue (a beacon signaling reward location). Subsets of place cells show allocentric directional tuning toward the beacon, with strength of tuning correlating with place field stability when boundaries are removed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuting Yang
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, 327 Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
| | - Francesca Cacucci
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Neil Burgess
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AZ, UK; Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Thomas Joseph Wills
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
| | - Guifen Chen
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, 327 Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK.
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Najafian Jazi M, Tymorek A, Yen TY, Jose Kavarayil F, Stingl M, Chau SR, Baskurt B, García Vilela C, Allen K. Hippocampal firing fields anchored to a moving object predict homing direction during path-integration-based behavior. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7373. [PMID: 37968268 PMCID: PMC10651862 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42642-3] [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: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Homing based on path integration (H-PI) is a form of navigation in which an animal uses self-motion cues to keep track of its position and return to a starting point. Despite evidence for a role of the hippocampus in homing behavior, the hippocampal spatial representations associated with H-PI are largely unknown. Here we developed a homing task (AutoPI task) that required a mouse to find a randomly placed lever on an arena before returning to its home base. Recordings from the CA1 area in male mice showed that hippocampal neurons remap between random foraging and AutoPI task, between trials in light and dark conditions, and between search and homing behavior. During the AutoPI task, approximately 25% of the firing fields were anchored to the lever position. The activity of 24% of the cells with a lever-anchored field predicted the homing direction of the animal on each trial. Our results demonstrate that the activity of hippocampal neurons with object-anchored firing fields predicts homing behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Najafian Jazi
- Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Adrian Tymorek
- Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ting-Yun Yen
- Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Felix Jose Kavarayil
- Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Moritz Stingl
- Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sherman Richard Chau
- Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Benay Baskurt
- Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Celia García Vilela
- Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kevin Allen
- Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.
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Thurley K. Naturalistic neuroscience and virtual reality. Front Syst Neurosci 2022; 16:896251. [PMID: 36467978 PMCID: PMC9712202 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2022.896251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Virtual reality (VR) is one of the techniques that became particularly popular in neuroscience over the past few decades. VR experiments feature a closed-loop between sensory stimulation and behavior. Participants interact with the stimuli and not just passively perceive them. Several senses can be stimulated at once, large-scale environments can be simulated as well as social interactions. All of this makes VR experiences more natural than those in traditional lab paradigms. Compared to the situation in field research, a VR simulation is highly controllable and reproducible, as required of a laboratory technique used in the search for neural correlates of perception and behavior. VR is therefore considered a middle ground between ecological validity and experimental control. In this review, I explore the potential of VR in eliciting naturalistic perception and behavior in humans and non-human animals. In this context, I give an overview of recent virtual reality approaches used in neuroscientific research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kay Thurley
- Faculty of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Munich, Munich, Germany
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Fetterhoff D, Sobolev A, Leibold C. Graded remapping of hippocampal ensembles under sensory conflicts. Cell Rep 2021; 36:109661. [PMID: 34525357 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2020] [Revised: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 08/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Hippocampal place cells are thought to constitute a cognitive map of space derived from multimodal sensory inputs. Alteration of allocentric (visual) cues in a fixed environment is known to induce modulations of place cell activity to varying degrees from rate changes to global remapping. To determine how hippocampal ensembles combine multimodal sensory cues, we examine hippocampal CA1 remapping in Mongolian gerbils in a 1D virtual reality experiment, during which self-motion cues (locomotor, vestibular, and optic flow information) and allocentric visual cues are altered. We observe that self-motion cues are over-represented, but responsiveness to allocentric visual cues, although task-irrelevant, elicits both rate and global remapping in the hippocampal ensemble. We propose that remapping can be reconciled by considering global, partial, and rate remapping on a continuous scale on which the graded change of activity in the entire CA1 population can be interpreted as the expectancy about the animal's spatial environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dustin Fetterhoff
- Department Biologie II, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 82152 Munich, Germany.
| | - Andrey Sobolev
- Department Biologie II, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 82152 Munich, Germany
| | - Christian Leibold
- Department Biologie II, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 82152 Munich, Germany; Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Munich, 82152 Munich, Germany
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Fournier J, Saleem AB, Diamanti EM, Wells MJ, Harris KD, Carandini M. Mouse Visual Cortex Is Modulated by Distance Traveled and by Theta Oscillations. Curr Biol 2020; 30:3811-3817.e6. [PMID: 32763173 PMCID: PMC7544510 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2019] [Revised: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 07/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
The visual responses of neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) are influenced by the animal's position in the environment [1-5]. V1 responses encode positions that co-fluctuate with those encoded by place cells in hippocampal area CA1 [2, 5]. This correlation might reflect a common influence of non-visual spatial signals on both areas. Place cells in CA1, indeed, do not rely only on vision; their place preference depends on the physical distance traveled [6-11] and on the phase of the 6-9 Hz theta oscillation [12, 13]. Are V1 responses similarly influenced by these non-visual factors? We recorded V1 and CA1 neurons simultaneously while mice performed a spatial task in a virtual corridor by running on a wheel and licking at a reward location. By changing the gain that couples the wheel movement to the virtual environment, we found that ∼20% of V1 neurons were influenced by the physical distance traveled, as were ∼40% of CA1 place cells. Moreover, the firing rate of ∼24% of V1 neurons was modulated by the phase of theta oscillations recorded in CA1 and the response profiles of ∼7% of V1 neurons shifted spatially across the theta cycle, analogous to the phase precession observed in ∼37% of CA1 place cells. The influence of theta oscillations on V1 responses was more prominent in putative layer 6. These results reveal that, in a familiar environment, sensory processing in V1 is modulated by the key non-visual signals that influence spatial coding in the hippocampus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Fournier
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK; Neuroscience Paris-Seine - Institut de biologie Paris-Seine, Sorbonne Universités, INSERM, CNRS, Paris, France; Laboratoire des systèmes perceptifs, DEC, ENS, PSL University, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France.
| | - Aman B Saleem
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK; UCL Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK.
| | - E Mika Diamanti
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK; CoMPLEX, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London WC1E 7JG, UK
| | - Miles J Wells
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK; UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Kenneth D Harris
- UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Matteo Carandini
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK
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Leibold C. A model for navigation in unknown environments based on a reservoir of hippocampal sequences. Neural Netw 2020; 124:328-342. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neunet.2020.01.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2019] [Revised: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 01/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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Li T, Arleo A, Sheynikhovich D. Modeling place cells and grid cells in multi-compartment environments: Entorhinal–hippocampal loop as a multisensory integration circuit. Neural Netw 2020; 121:37-51. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neunet.2019.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Revised: 07/24/2019] [Accepted: 09/02/2019] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
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Mankin EA, Thurley K, Chenani A, Haas OV, Debs L, Henke J, Galinato M, Leutgeb JK, Leutgeb S, Leibold C. The hippocampal code for space in Mongolian gerbils. Hippocampus 2019; 29:787-801. [PMID: 30746805 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.23075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2017] [Revised: 12/07/2018] [Accepted: 01/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Large parts of our knowledge about the physiology of the hippocampus in the intact brain are derived from studies in rats and mice. While many of those findings fit well to the limited data available from humans and primates, there are also marked differences, for example, in hippocampal oscillation frequencies and in the persistence of theta oscillations. To test whether the distinct sensory specializations of the visual and auditory system of primates play a key role in explaining these differences, we recorded basic hippocampal physiological properties in Mongolian gerbils, a rodent species with high visual acuity, and good low-frequency hearing, similar to humans. We found that gerbils show only minor differences to rats regarding hippocampal place field activity, theta properties (frequency, persistence, phase precession, theta compression), and sharp wave ripple events. The only major difference between rats and gerbils was a considerably higher degree of head direction selectivity of gerbil place fields, which may be explained by their visual system being able to better resolve distant cues. Thus, differences in sensory specializations between rodent species only affect hippocampal circuit dynamics to a minor extent, which implies that differences to other mammalian lineages, such as bats and primates, cannot be solely explained by specialization in the auditory or visual system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily A Mankin
- Neurobiology Section and Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California.,Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine and Semel Institute For Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Kay Thurley
- Department Biologie II, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Martinsried, Germany.,Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Munich, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Alireza Chenani
- Department Biologie II, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Martinsried, Germany.,Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Munich, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Olivia V Haas
- Department Biologie II, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Martinsried, Germany.,Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Munich, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Luca Debs
- Neurobiology Section and Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Josephine Henke
- Department Biologie II, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Melissa Galinato
- Neurobiology Section and Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Jill K Leutgeb
- Neurobiology Section and Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Stefan Leutgeb
- Neurobiology Section and Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California.,Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Christian Leibold
- Department Biologie II, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Martinsried, Germany.,Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Munich, Martinsried, Germany
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