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Griffiths BJ, Schreiner T, Schaefer JK, Vollmar C, Kaufmann E, Quach S, Remi J, Noachtar S, Staudigl T. Electrophysiological signatures of veridical head direction in humans. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:1334-1350. [PMID: 38710766 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01872-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
Information about heading direction is critical for navigation as it provides the means to orient ourselves in space. However, given that veridical head-direction signals require physical rotation of the head and most human neuroimaging experiments depend upon fixing the head in position, little is known about how the human brain is tuned to such heading signals. Here we adress this by asking 52 healthy participants undergoing simultaneous electroencephalography and motion tracking recordings (split into two experiments) and 10 patients undergoing simultaneous intracranial electroencephalography and motion tracking recordings to complete a series of orientation tasks in which they made physical head rotations to target positions. We then used a series of forward encoding models and linear mixed-effects models to isolate electrophysiological activity that was specifically tuned to heading direction. We identified a robust posterior central signature that predicts changes in veridical head orientation after regressing out confounds including sensory input and muscular activity. Both source localization and intracranial analysis implicated the medial temporal lobe as the origin of this effect. Subsequent analyses disentangled head-direction signatures from signals relating to head rotation and those reflecting location-specific effects. Lastly, when directly comparing head direction and eye-gaze-related tuning, we found that the brain maintains both codes while actively navigating, with stronger tuning to head direction in the medial temporal lobe. Together, these results reveal a taxonomy of population-level head-direction signals within the human brain that is reminiscent of those reported in the single units of rodents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin J Griffiths
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
- Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Thomas Schreiner
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Julia K Schaefer
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Christian Vollmar
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Elisabeth Kaufmann
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Stefanie Quach
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Jan Remi
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Soheyl Noachtar
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Tobias Staudigl
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
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2
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Kutschireiter A, Basnak MA, Wilson RI, Drugowitsch J. Bayesian inference in ring attractor networks. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2210622120. [PMID: 36812206 PMCID: PMC9992764 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2210622120] [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: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Working memories are thought to be held in attractor networks in the brain. These attractors should keep track of the uncertainty associated with each memory, so as to weigh it properly against conflicting new evidence. However, conventional attractors do not represent uncertainty. Here, we show how uncertainty could be incorporated into an attractor, specifically a ring attractor that encodes head direction. First, we introduce a rigorous normative framework (the circular Kalman filter) for benchmarking the performance of a ring attractor under conditions of uncertainty. Next, we show that the recurrent connections within a conventional ring attractor can be retuned to match this benchmark. This allows the amplitude of network activity to grow in response to confirmatory evidence, while shrinking in response to poor-quality or strongly conflicting evidence. This "Bayesian ring attractor" performs near-optimal angular path integration and evidence accumulation. Indeed, we show that a Bayesian ring attractor is consistently more accurate than a conventional ring attractor. Moreover, near-optimal performance can be achieved without exact tuning of the network connections. Finally, we use large-scale connectome data to show that the network can achieve near-optimal performance even after we incorporate biological constraints. Our work demonstrates how attractors can implement a dynamic Bayesian inference algorithm in a biologically plausible manner, and it makes testable predictions with direct relevance to the head direction system as well as any neural system that tracks direction, orientation, or periodic rhythms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Rachel I. Wilson
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA02115
| | - Jan Drugowitsch
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA02115
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3
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Long X, Deng B, Young CK, Liu G, Zhong Z, Chen Q, Yang H, Lv S, Chen ZS, Zhang S. Sharp Tuning of Head Direction and Angular Head Velocity Cells in the Somatosensory Cortex. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2022; 9:e2200020. [PMID: 35297541 PMCID: PMC9109065 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202200020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Revised: 02/10/2022] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Head direction (HD) cells form a fundamental component in the brain's spatial navigation system and are intricately linked to spatial memory and cognition. Although HD cells have been shown to act as an internal neuronal compass in various cortical and subcortical regions, the neural substrate of HD cells is incompletely understood. It is reported that HD cells in the somatosensory cortex comprise regular-spiking (RS, putative excitatory) and fast-spiking (FS, putative inhibitory) neurons. Surprisingly, somatosensory FS HD cells fire in bursts and display much sharper head-directionality than RS HD cells. These FS HD cells are nonconjunctive, rarely theta rhythmic, sparsely connected and enriched in layer 5. Moreover, sharply tuned FS HD cells, in contrast with RS HD cells, maintain stable tuning in darkness; FS HD cells' coexistence with RS HD cells and angular head velocity (AHV) cells in a layer-specific fashion through the somatosensory cortex presents a previously unreported configuration of spatial representation in the neocortex. Together, these findings challenge the notion that FS interneurons are weakly tuned to sensory stimuli, and offer a local circuit organization relevant to the generation and transmission of HD signaling in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyang Long
- Department of NeurosurgeryXinqiao HospitalArmy Medical UniversityChongqing400037China
| | - Bin Deng
- Department of NeurosurgeryXinqiao HospitalArmy Medical UniversityChongqing400037China
| | - Calvin K. Young
- Department of PsychologyBrain Health Research CentreUniversity of OtagoDunedin9054New Zealand
| | - Guo‐Long Liu
- Department of NeurosurgeryXinqiao HospitalArmy Medical UniversityChongqing400037China
| | - Zeqi Zhong
- Department of NeurosurgeryXinqiao HospitalArmy Medical UniversityChongqing400037China
| | - Qian Chen
- Center for Biomedical AnalysisCollege of Basic MedicineArmy Medical UniversityChongqing400038China
| | - Hui Yang
- Department of NeurosurgeryXinqiao HospitalArmy Medical UniversityChongqing400037China
| | - Sheng‐Qing Lv
- Department of NeurosurgeryXinqiao HospitalArmy Medical UniversityChongqing400037China
| | - Zhe Sage Chen
- Department of PsychiatryDepartment of Neuroscience and PhysiologyNeuroscience InstituteNew York University School of MedicineNew YorkNY10016USA
| | - Sheng‐Jia Zhang
- Department of NeurosurgeryXinqiao HospitalArmy Medical UniversityChongqing400037China
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4
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Modular microcircuit organization of the presubicular head-direction map. Cell Rep 2022; 39:110684. [PMID: 35417686 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2021] [Revised: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Our internal sense of direction is thought to rely on the activity of head-direction (HD) neurons. We find that the mouse dorsal presubiculum (PreS), a key structure in the cortical representation of HD, displays a modular "patch-matrix" organization, which is conserved across species (including human). Calbindin-positive layer 2 neurons within the "matrix" form modular recurrent microcircuits, while inputs from the anterodorsal and laterodorsal thalamic nuclei are non-overlapping and target the "patch" and "matrix" compartments, respectively. The apical dendrites of identified HD cells are largely restricted within the "matrix," pointing to a non-random sampling of patterned inputs and to a precise structure-function architecture. Optogenetic perturbation of modular recurrent microcircuits results in a drastic tonic suppression of firing only in a subpopulation of HD neurons. Altogether, our data reveal a modular microcircuit organization of the PreS HD map and point to the existence of cell-type-specific microcircuits that support the cortical HD representation.
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5
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Jeffery K, Guo W, Ball D, Rodriguez-Sanchez J. Visual imagination and cognitive mapping of a virtual building. JOURNAL OF NAVIGATION 2022; 75:1-14. [PMID: 35418722 PMCID: PMC7612610 DOI: 10.1017/s0373463321000588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
We investigated the contribution of visual imagination to the cognitive mapping of a building when initial exploration was simulated either visually by using a passive video walk-through, or mentally by using verbal guidance. Building layout had repeating elements with either rotational or mirror symmetry. Cognitive mapping of the virtual building, determined using questionnaires and map drawings, was present following verbal guidance but inferior to that following video guidance. Mapping was not affected by the building's structural symmetry. However, notably, it correlated with small-scale mental rotation scores for both video and verbal guidance conditions. There was no difference between males and females. A common factor that may have influenced cognitive mapping was the availability of visual information about the relationships of the building elements, either directly perceived (during the video walk-through) or imagined (during the verbal walk-through and/or during recall). Differences in visual imagination, particularly mental rotation, may thus account for some of the individual variance in cognitive mapping of complex built environments, which is relevant to how designers provide navigation-relevant information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate Jeffery
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Wanying Guo
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Danny Ball
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
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6
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Beetz MJ, Kraus C, Franzke M, Dreyer D, Strube-Bloss MF, Rössler W, Warrant EJ, Merlin C, El Jundi B. Flight-induced compass representation in the monarch butterfly heading network. Curr Biol 2021; 32:338-349.e5. [PMID: 34822766 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.11.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Revised: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
For navigation, animals use a robust internal compass. Compass navigation is crucial for long-distance migrating animals like monarch butterflies, which use the sun to navigate over 4,000 km to their overwintering sites every fall. Sun-compass neurons of the central complex have only been recorded in immobile butterflies, and experimental evidence for encoding the animal's heading in these neurons is still missing. Although the activity of central-complex neurons exhibits a locomotor-dependent modulation in many insects, the function of such modulations remains unexplored. Here, we developed tetrode recordings from tethered flying monarch butterflies to reveal how flight modulates heading representation. We found that, during flight, heading-direction neurons change their tuning, transforming the central-complex network to function as a global compass. This compass is characterized by the dominance of processing steering feedback and allows for robust heading representation even under unreliable visual scenarios, an ideal strategy for maintaining a migratory heading over enormous distances.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Jerome Beetz
- Zoology II, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland 1, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Christian Kraus
- Zoology II, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland 1, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Myriam Franzke
- Zoology II, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland 1, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - David Dreyer
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, 22362 Lund, Sweden
| | - Martin F Strube-Bloss
- Department of Biological Cybernetics, University of Bielefeld, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Rössler
- Zoology II, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland 1, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Eric J Warrant
- Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, 22362 Lund, Sweden
| | - Christine Merlin
- Department of Biology and Center for Biological Clocks Research, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Basil El Jundi
- Zoology II, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland 1, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
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7
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Steel A, Robertson CE, Taube JS. Current Promises and Limitations of Combined Virtual Reality and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research in Humans: A Commentary on Huffman and Ekstrom (2019). J Cogn Neurosci 2020; 33:159-166. [PMID: 33054553 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Real-world navigation requires movement of the body through space, producing a continuous stream of visual and self-motion signals, including proprioceptive, vestibular, and motor efference cues. These multimodal cues are integrated to form a spatial cognitive map, an abstract, amodal representation of the environment. How the brain combines these disparate inputs and the relative importance of these inputs to cognitive map formation and recall are key unresolved questions in cognitive neuroscience. Recent advances in virtual reality technology allow participants to experience body-based cues when virtually navigating, and thus it is now possible to consider these issues in new detail. Here, we discuss a recent publication that addresses some of these issues (D. J. Huffman and A. D. Ekstrom. A modality-independent network underlies the retrieval of large-scale spatial environments in the human brain. Neuron, 104, 611-622, 2019). In doing so, we also review recent progress in the study of human spatial cognition and raise several questions that might be addressed in future studies.
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8
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Taube JS, Shinder ME. On the absence or presence of 3D tuned head direction cells in rats: a review and rebuttal. J Neurophysiol 2020; 123:1808-1827. [PMID: 32208877 PMCID: PMC8086636 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00475.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2019] [Revised: 03/20/2020] [Accepted: 03/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
A major question in the field of spatial cognition is how animals represent three-dimensional (3D) space. Different results have been obtained across various species and may depend on whether the species inhabits a 3D environment or is terrestrial (land dwelling). The head direction (HD) cell system is an attractive candidate to study in terms of 3D representations. HD cells fire as a function of the animal's directional heading in the horizontal plane, independent of the animal's location and on-going behavior. Another issue concerns whether HD cells are tuned in 3D space or tuned to the 2D horizontal plane. Shinder and Taube (Shinder ME, Taube JS. J Neurophysiol 121: 4-37, 2019) addressed this issue by manipulating a rat's orientation in 3D space while monitoring responses from classic HD cells in the rat anterodorsal thalamus. They reported that HD cells did not display conjunctive firing with pitch or roll orientations. Direction-specific firing was primarily derived from horizontal semicircular canal information and that the gravity vector played an important role in influencing the cell's firing rate and its preferred firing direction. Laurens and Angelaki (Laurens J, Angelaki DE. J Neurophysiol 122: 1274-1287, 2019) challenged this view by performing a mathematical analysis on the Shinder and Taube data and concluded that they would not have seen 3D tuning based on their experimental approach. We provide a historical review of these issues followed by a summary of the experiments, which includes additional analyses. We then define what it means for a HD cell to be tuned in 3D and finish by rebutting the reanalyses performed by Laurens and Angelaki.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey S Taube
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
| | - Michael E Shinder
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
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9
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Angelaki DE, Ng J, Abrego AM, Cham HX, Asprodini EK, Dickman JD, Laurens J. A gravity-based three-dimensional compass in the mouse brain. Nat Commun 2020; 11:1855. [PMID: 32296057 PMCID: PMC7160108 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15566-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2019] [Accepted: 03/12/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Gravity sensing provides a robust verticality signal for three-dimensional navigation. Head direction cells in the mammalian limbic system implement an allocentric neuronal compass. Here we show that head-direction cells in the rodent thalamus, retrosplenial cortex and cingulum fiber bundle are tuned to conjunctive combinations of azimuth and tilt, i.e. pitch or roll. Pitch and roll orientation tuning is anchored to gravity and independent of visual landmarks. When the head tilts, azimuth tuning is affixed to the head-horizontal plane, but also uses gravity to remain anchored to the allocentric bearings in the earth-horizontal plane. Collectively, these results demonstrate that a three-dimensional, gravity-based, neural compass is likely a ubiquitous property of mammalian species, including ground-dwelling animals. Head direction neurons constitute the brain’s compass, and are classically known to indicate head orientation in the horizontal plane. Here, the authors show that head direction neurons form a three-dimensional compass that can also indicate head tilt, and anchors to gravity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dora E Angelaki
- Center for Neural Science and Tandon School of Engineering, New York University, New York, NY, USA. .,Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
| | - Julia Ng
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Amada M Abrego
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Henry X Cham
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Eftihia K Asprodini
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece
| | - J David Dickman
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jean Laurens
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
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10
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Sheeran WM, Ahmed OJ. The neural circuitry supporting successful spatial navigation despite variable movement speeds. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 108:821-833. [PMID: 31760048 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.11.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2019] [Revised: 09/30/2019] [Accepted: 11/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Ants who have successfully navigated the long distance between their foraging spot and their nest dozens of times will drastically overshoot their destination if the size of their legs is doubled by the addition of stilts. This observation reflects a navigational strategy called path integration, a strategy also utilized by mammals. Path integration necessitates that animals keep track of their movement speed and use it to precisely and instantly modify where they think they are and where they want to go. Here we review the neural circuitry that has evolved to integrate speed and space. We start with the rate and temporal codes for speed in the hippocampus and work backwards towards the motor and sensory systems. We highlight the need for experiments designed to differentiate the respective contributions of motor efference copy versus sensory inputs. In particular, we discuss the importance of high-resolution tracking of the latency of speed-encoding as a precise way to disentangle the sensory versus motor computations that enable successful spatial navigation at very different speeds.
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Affiliation(s)
- William M Sheeran
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Omar J Ahmed
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Michigan Center for Integrative Research in Critical Care, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
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11
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Laurens J, Angelaki DE. The Brain Compass: A Perspective on How Self-Motion Updates the Head Direction Cell Attractor. Neuron 2019; 97:275-289. [PMID: 29346751 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.12.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2017] [Revised: 11/19/2017] [Accepted: 12/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Head direction cells form an internal compass signaling head azimuth orientation even without visual landmarks. This property is generated by a neuronal ring attractor that is updated using rotation velocity cues. The properties and origin of this velocity drive remain, however, unknown. We propose a quantitative framework whereby this drive represents a multisensory self-motion estimate computed through an internal model that uses sensory prediction errors of vestibular, visual, and somatosensory cues to improve on-line motor drive. We show how restraint-dependent strength of recurrent connections within the attractor can explain differences in head direction cell firing between free foraging and restrained passive rotation. We also summarize recent findings on how gravity influences azimuth coding, indicating that the velocity drive is not purely egocentric. Finally, we show that the internal compass may be three-dimensional and hypothesize that the additional vertical degrees of freedom use global allocentric gravity cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean Laurens
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
| | - Dora E Angelaki
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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12
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Mehlman ML, Winter SS, Valerio S, Taube JS. Functional and anatomical relationships between the medial precentral cortex, dorsal striatum, and head direction cell circuitry. I. Recording studies. J Neurophysiol 2018; 121:350-370. [PMID: 30427767 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00143.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Head direction (HD) cells fire as a function of the animal's directional heading and provide the animal with a sense of direction. In rodents, these neurons are located primarily within the limbic system, but small populations of HD cells are found in two extralimbic areas: the medial precentral cortex (PrCM) and dorsal striatum (DS). HD cell activity in these structures could be driven by output from the limbic HD circuit or generated intrinsically. We examined these possibilities by recording the activity of PrCM and DS neurons in control rats and in rats with anterodorsal thalamic nucleus (ADN) lesions, a manipulation that disrupts the limbic HD signal. HD cells in the PrCM and DS of control animals displayed characteristics similar to those of limbic HD cells, and these extralimbic HD signals were eliminated in animals with complete ADN lesions, suggesting that the PrCM and DS HD signals are conveyed from the limbic HD circuit. Angular head velocity cells recorded in the PrCM and DS were unaffected by ADN lesions. Next, we determined if the PrCM and DS convey necessary self-motion signals to the limbic HD circuit. Limbic HD cell activity recorded in the ADN remained intact following combined lesions of the PrCM and DS. Collectively, these experiments reveal a unidirectional functional relationship between the limbic HD circuit and the PrCM and DS; the limbic system generates the HD signal and transmits it to the PrCM and DS, but these extralimbic areas do not provide critical input or feedback to limbic HD cells. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Head direction (HD) cells have been extensively studied within the limbic system. The lesion and recording experiments reported here examined two relatively understudied populations of HD cells located outside of the canonical limbic HD circuit in the medial precentral cortex and dorsal striatum. We found that HD cell activity in these two extralimbic areas is driven by output from the limbic HD circuit, revealing that HD cell circuitry functionally extends beyond the limbic system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max L Mehlman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College , Hanover, New Hampshire
| | - Shawn S Winter
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College , Hanover, New Hampshire
| | - Stephane Valerio
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College , Hanover, New Hampshire
| | - Jeffrey S Taube
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College , Hanover, New Hampshire
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13
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Abstract
Head direction (HD) cells fire when the animal faces that cell's preferred firing direction (PFD) in the horizontal plane. The PFD response when the animal is oriented outside the earth-horizontal plane could result from cells representing direction in the plane of locomotion or as a three-dimensional (3D), global-referenced direction anchored to gravity. To investigate these possibilities, anterodorsal thalamic HD cells were recorded from restrained rats while they were passively positioned in various 3D orientations. Cell responses were unaffected by pitch or roll up to ~90° from the horizontal plane. Firing was disrupted once the animal was oriented >90° away from the horizontal plane and during inversion. When rolling the animal around the earth-vertical axis, cells were active when the animal's ventral surface faced the cell's PFD. However, with the rat rolled 90° in an ear-down orientation, pitching the rat and rotating it around the vertical axis did not produce directionally tuned responses. Complex movements involving combinations of yaw-roll, but usually not yaw-pitch, resulted in reduced directional tuning even at the final upright orientation when the rat had full visual view of its environment and was pointing in the cell's PFD. Directional firing was restored when the rat's head was moved back-and-forth. There was limited evidence indicating that cells contained conjunctive firing with pitch or roll positions. These findings suggest that the brain's representation of directional heading is derived primarily from horizontal canal information and that the HD signal is a 3D gravity-referenced signal anchored to a direction in the horizontal plane. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study monitored head direction cell responses from rats in three dimensions using a series of manipulations that involved yaw, pitch, roll, or a combination of these rotations. Results showed that head direction responses are consistent with the use of two reference frames simultaneously: one defined by the surrounding environment using primarily visual landmarks and a second defined by the earth's gravity vector.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael E Shinder
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College , Hanover, New Hampshire
| | - Jeffrey S Taube
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College , Hanover, New Hampshire
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14
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Weiss S, Derdikman D. Role of the head-direction signal in spatial tasks: when and how does it guide behavior? J Neurophysiol 2018. [PMID: 29537921 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00560.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Since their discovery, mammalian head-direction (HD) cells have been extensively researched in terms of sensory origins, external cue control, and circuitry. However, the relationship of HD cells to behavior is not yet fully understood. In the current review, we examine the anatomical clues for information flow in the HD circuit and an emerging body of evidence that links neural activity of HD cells and spatial orientation. We hypothesize from results obtained in spatial orientation tasks involving HD cells that when properly aligned with available external cues, the HD signal could be used for guiding rats to a goal location. However, contradictory inputs from separate sensory systems may reduce the influence of the HD signal such that animals are able to switch between this and other systems according to their impact on behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahaf Weiss
- Department of Neuroscience, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology , Haifa , Israel.,School of Zoology, George Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University , Ramat-Aviv , Israel.,Max Planck Institute for Brain Research , Frankfurt am Main , Germany
| | - Dori Derdikman
- Department of Neuroscience, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology , Haifa , Israel
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The Human Retrosplenial Cortex and Thalamus Code Head Direction in a Global Reference Frame. J Neurosci 2017; 36:6371-81. [PMID: 27307227 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1268-15.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2015] [Accepted: 04/21/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Spatial navigation is a multisensory process involving integration of visual and body-based cues. In rodents, head direction (HD) cells, which are most abundant in the thalamus, integrate these cues to code facing direction. Human fMRI studies examining HD coding in virtual environments (VE) have reported effects in retrosplenial complex and (pre-)subiculum, but not the thalamus. Furthermore, HD coding appeared insensitive to global landmarks. These tasks, however, provided only visual cues for orientation, and attending to global landmarks did not benefit task performance. In the present study, participants explored a VE comprising four separate locales, surrounded by four global landmarks. To provide body-based cues, participants wore a head-mounted display so that physical rotations changed facing direction in the VE. During subsequent MRI scanning, subjects saw stationary views of the environment and judged whether their orientation was the same as in the preceding trial. Parameter estimates extracted from retrosplenial cortex and the thalamus revealed significantly reduced BOLD responses when HD was repeated. Moreover, consistent with rodent findings, the signal did not continue to adapt over repetitions of the same HD. These results were supported by a whole-brain analysis showing additional repetition suppression in the precuneus. Together, our findings suggest that: (1) consistent with the rodent literature, the human thalamus may integrate visual and body-based, orientation cues; (2) global reference frame cues can be used to integrate HD across separate individual locales; and (3) immersive training procedures providing full body-based cues may help to elucidate the neural mechanisms supporting spatial navigation. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In rodents, head direction (HD) cells signal facing direction in the environment via increased firing when the animal assumes a certain orientation. Distinct brain regions, the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) and thalamus, code for visual and vestibular cues of orientation, respectively. Putative HD signals have been observed in human RSC but not the thalamus, potentially because body-based cues were not provided. Here, participants encoded HD in a novel virtual environment while wearing a head-mounted display to provide body-based cues for orientation. In subsequent fMRI scanning, we found evidence of an HD signal in RSC, thalamus, and precuneus. These findings harmonize rodent and human data, and suggest that immersive training procedures provide a viable way to examine the neural basis of navigation.
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Gravity orientation tuning in macaque anterior thalamus. Nat Neurosci 2016; 19:1566-1568. [PMID: 27775722 PMCID: PMC5791896 DOI: 10.1038/nn.4423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2016] [Accepted: 09/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Gravity may provide a ubiquitous allocentric reference to the brain's spatial orientation circuits. Here we describe neurons in the macaque anterior thalamus tuned to pitch and roll orientation relative to gravity, independently of visual landmarks. We show that individual cells exhibit two-dimensional tuning curves, with peak firing rates at a preferred vertical orientation. These results identify a thalamic pathway for gravity cues to influence perception, action and spatial cognition.
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Preston-Ferrer P, Coletta S, Frey M, Burgalossi A. Anatomical organization of presubicular head-direction circuits. eLife 2016; 5. [PMID: 27282390 PMCID: PMC4927294 DOI: 10.7554/elife.14592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2016] [Accepted: 06/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Neurons coding for head-direction are crucial for spatial navigation. Here we explored the cellular basis of head-direction coding in the rat dorsal presubiculum (PreS). We found that layer2 is composed of two principal cell populations (calbindin-positive and calbindin-negative neurons) which targeted the contralateral PreS and retrosplenial cortex, respectively. Layer3 pyramidal neurons projected to the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC). By juxtacellularly recording PreS neurons in awake rats during passive-rotation, we found that head-direction responses were preferentially contributed by layer3 pyramidal cells, whose long-range axons branched within layer3 of the MEC. In contrast, layer2 neurons displayed distinct spike-shapes, were not modulated by head-direction but rhythmically-entrained by theta-oscillations. Fast-spiking interneurons showed only weak directionality and theta-rhythmicity, but were significantly modulated by angular velocity. Our data thus indicate that PreS neurons differentially contribute to head-direction coding, and point to a cell-type- and layer-specific routing of directional and non-directional information to downstream cortical targets. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14592.001
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stefano Coletta
- Werner-Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Markus Frey
- Werner-Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Andrea Burgalossi
- Werner-Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Tübingen, Germany
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Wijesinghe R, Protti DA, Camp AJ. Vestibular Interactions in the Thalamus. Front Neural Circuits 2015; 9:79. [PMID: 26696836 PMCID: PMC4667082 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2015.00079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2015] [Accepted: 11/10/2015] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
It has long been known that the vast majority of all information en route to the cerebral cortex must first pass through the thalamus. The long held view that the thalamus serves as a simple hi fidelity relay station for sensory information to the cortex, however, has over recent years been dispelled. Indeed, multiple projections from the vestibular nuclei to thalamic nuclei (including the ventrobasal nuclei, and the geniculate bodies)- regions typically associated with other modalities- have been described. Further, some thalamic neurons have been shown to respond to stimuli presented from across sensory modalities. For example, neurons in the rat anterodorsal and laterodorsal nuclei of the thalamus respond to visual, vestibular, proprioceptive and somatosensory stimuli and integrate this information to compute heading within the environment. Together, these findings imply that the thalamus serves crucial integrative functions, at least in regard to vestibular processing, beyond that imparted by a “simple” relay. In this mini review we outline the vestibular inputs to the thalamus and provide some clinical context for vestibular interactions in the thalamus. We then focus on how vestibular inputs interact with other sensory systems and discuss the multisensory integration properties of the thalamus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajiv Wijesinghe
- Sensory Systems and Integration Laboratory, Sydney Medical School, Discipline of Biomedical Science, University of Sydney Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Dario A Protti
- Vision Laboratory, Sydney Medical School, Discipline of Physiology, University of Sydney Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Aaron J Camp
- Sensory Systems and Integration Laboratory, Sydney Medical School, Discipline of Biomedical Science, University of Sydney Sydney, NSW, Australia
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Tsanov M, O'Mara SM. Decoding signal processing in thalamo-hippocampal circuitry: implications for theories of memory and spatial processing. Brain Res 2014; 1621:368-79. [PMID: 25498107 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2014.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2014] [Revised: 11/30/2014] [Accepted: 12/01/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
A major tool in understanding how information is processed in the brain is the analysis of neuronal output at each hierarchical level through which neurophysiological signals are propagated. Since the experimental brain operation performed on Henry Gustav Molaison (known as patient H.M.) in 1953, the hippocampal formation has gained special attention, resulting in a very large number of studies investigating signals processed by the hippocampal formation. One of the main information streams to the hippocampal formation, vital for episodic memory formation, arises from thalamo-hippocampal projections, as there is extensive connectivity between these structures. This connectivity is sometimes overlooked by theories of memory formation by the brain, in favour of theories with a strong cortico-hippocampal flavour. In this review, we attempt to address some of the complexity of the signals processed within the thalamo-hippocampal circuitry. To understand the signals encoded by the anterior thalamic nuclei in particular, we review key findings from electrophysiological, anatomical, behavioural and computational studies. We include recent findings elucidating the integration of different signal modalities by single thalamic neurons; we focus in particular on the propagation of two prominent signals: head directionality and theta rhythm. We conclude that thalamo-hippocampal processing provides a centrally important, substantive, and dynamic input modulating and moderating hippocampal spatial and mnemonic processing. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Brain and Memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marian Tsanov
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
| | - Shane M O'Mara
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
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