Spatial representations of place cells in darkness are supported by path integration and border information

  • Effective spatial navigation is enabled by reliable reference cues that derive from sensory information from the external environment, as well as from internal sources such as the vestibular system. The integration of information from these sources enables dead reckoning in the form of path integration. Navigation in the dark is associated with the accumulation of errors in terms of perception of allocentric position and this may relate to error accumulation in path integration. We assessed this by recording from place cells in the dark under circumstances where spatial sensory cues were suppressed. Spatial information content, spatial coherence, place field size, and peak and infield firing rates decreased whereas sparsity increased following exploration in the dark compared to the light. Nonetheless it was observed that place field stability in darkness was sustained by border information in a subset of place cells. To examine the impact of encountering the environment’s border on navigation, we analyzed the trajectory and spiking data gathered during navigation in the dark. Our data suggest that although error accumulation in path integration drives place field drift in darkness, under circumstances where border contact is possible, this information is integrated to enable retention of spatial representations.

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Metadaten
Author:Sijie ZhangGND, Fabian SchönfeldGND, Laurenz WiskottORCiDGND, Denise Manahan-VaughanORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hbz:294-69677
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00222
Parent Title (English):Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience
Publisher:Frontiers Research Foundation
Place of publication:Lausanne
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2020/02/11
Date of first Publication:2014/06/24
Publishing Institution:Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsbibliothek
Tag:CA1; hippocampus; place cells; sensory
Volume:8
First Page:222-1
Last Page:222-12
Institutes/Facilities:Institut für Physiologie, Abteilung für Neurophysiologie
Research Department of Neuroscience
Sonderforschungsbereich 1280, A04 - Neurale Mechanismen des Extinktionslernens
Sonderforschungsbereich 874, Integration und Repräsentation sensorischer Prozesse
open_access (DINI-Set):open_access
faculties:International Graduate School of Neuroscience (IGSN)
Licence (English):License LogoCreative Commons - CC BY 3.0 Unported - Attribution 3.0 Unported