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Asumbisa K, Peyrache A, Trenholm S. Stereo olfaction underlies stable coding of head direction in blind mice. Nat Commun 2025; 16:3545. [PMID: 40229306 PMCID: PMC11997211 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58847-7] [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: 11/27/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2025] [Indexed: 04/16/2025] Open
Abstract
Stereo olfaction, the difference in odor concentration between the two nostrils, has been shown to affect a variety of animal behaviors, including olfactory search. However, it is unknown whether stereo olfaction can enable the formation of allocentric spatial representations. Here, recording from head direction (HD) cells in the anterior dorsal nucleus of the thalamus in blind mice-a model system for studying olfaction-dependent allocentric spatial representations-we find that inhibiting stereo olfaction, by blocking olfactory processing in one nostril or merging the airflow going to both nostrils, drastically impairs head direction coding. To assess the behavioral impact of impaired HD cell tuning caused by loss of stereo olfaction, we developed a closed-loop head direction preference assay, in which a mouse received medial forebrain bundle reward stimulation upon orientating its head in a specific direction. We find that inhibiting stereo olfaction significantly impairs performance in the HD preference assay. These results reveal that stereo olfaction is required for mice to use smell to form a stable allocentric spatial representation of head direction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kadjita Asumbisa
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Adrien Peyrache
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Stuart Trenholm
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
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2
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Jiang S, Hijazi S, Sarkany B, Gautsch VG, LaChance PA, Hasselmo ME, Bannerman D, Viney TJ. Pathological tau alters head direction signaling and induces spatial disorientation. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2025:2024.11.07.622548. [PMID: 39574637 PMCID: PMC11581017 DOI: 10.1101/2024.11.07.622548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2024]
Abstract
Spatial disorientation, an early symptom of dementia, is emerging as an early and reliable cognitive biomarker predicting future memory problems associated with Alzheimer's disease, but the underlying neural mechanisms have yet to be fully defined. The anterodorsal thalamic nucleus (ADn) exhibits early and selective vulnerability to pathological misfolded forms of tau, a major hallmark of Alzheimer's disease and ageing. The ADn contains a high density of head direction (HD) cells, which contribute to spatial navigation and orientation. Hence, their disruption may contribute to spatial disorientation. To test this, we virally expressed human mutant tau (htau) in the ADn of adult mice. HD-tau mice were defined by phosphorylated and oligomeric forms of htau in ADn somata and in axon terminals in postsynaptic target regions. Compared to controls, HD-tau mice exhibited increased looping behavior during spatial learning, and made a greater number of head turns during memory recall, indicative of spatial disorientation. Using in vivo extracellular recordings, we identified htau-expressing ADn cells and found a lower proportion of HD cells in the ADn from HD-tau mice, along with reduced directionality and altered burst firing. These findings provide evidence that expression of pathological human tau can alter HD signaling, leading to impairments in spatial orientation.
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3
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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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Graham JA, Dumont JR, Winter SS, Brown JE, LaChance PA, Amon CC, Farnes KB, Morris AJ, Streltzov NA, Taube JS. Angular Head Velocity Cells within Brainstem Nuclei Projecting to the Head Direction Circuit. J Neurosci 2023; 43:8403-8424. [PMID: 37871964 PMCID: PMC10711713 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0581-23.2023] [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: 03/25/2023] [Revised: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The sense of orientation of an animal is derived from the head direction (HD) system found in several limbic structures and depends on an intact vestibular labyrinth. However, how the vestibular system influences the generation and updating of the HD signal remains poorly understood. Anatomical and lesion studies point toward three key brainstem nuclei as key components for generating the HD signal-nucleus prepositus hypoglossi, supragenual nucleus, and dorsal paragigantocellularis reticular nuclei. Collectively, these nuclei are situated between the vestibular nuclei and the dorsal tegmental and lateral mammillary nuclei, which are thought to serve as the origin of the HD signal. To determine the types of information these brain areas convey to the HD network, we recorded neurons from these regions while female rats actively foraged in a cylindrical enclosure or were restrained and rotated passively. During foraging, a large subset of cells in all three nuclei exhibited activity that correlated with the angular head velocity (AHV) of the rat. Two fundamental types of AHV cells were observed; (1) symmetrical AHV cells increased or decreased their firing with increases in AHV regardless of the direction of rotation, and (2) asymmetrical AHV cells responded differentially to clockwise and counterclockwise head rotations. When rats were passively rotated, some AHV cells remained sensitive to AHV, whereas firing was attenuated in other cells. In addition, a large number of AHV cells were modulated by linear head velocity. These results indicate the types of information conveyed from the vestibular nuclei that are responsible for generating the HD signal.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Extracellular recording of brainstem nuclei (nucleus prepositus hypoglossi, supragenual nucleus, and dorsal paragigantocellularis reticular nucleus) that project to the head direction circuit identified different types of AHV cells while rats freely foraged in a cylindrical environment. The firing of many cells was also modulated by linear velocity. When rats were restrained and passively rotated, some cells remained sensitive to AHV, whereas others had attenuated firing. These brainstem nuclei provide critical information about the rotational movement of the head of the rat in the azimuthal plane.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jalina A Graham
- Department of Psychological Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Dartmouth, New Hampshire 03755
| | - Julie R Dumont
- Department of Psychological Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Dartmouth, New Hampshire 03755
| | - Shawn S Winter
- Department of Psychological Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Dartmouth, New Hampshire 03755
| | - Joel E Brown
- Department of Psychological Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Dartmouth, New Hampshire 03755
| | - Patrick A LaChance
- Department of Psychological Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Dartmouth, New Hampshire 03755
| | - Carly C Amon
- Department of Psychological Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Dartmouth, New Hampshire 03755
| | - Kara B Farnes
- Department of Psychological Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Dartmouth, New Hampshire 03755
| | - Ashlyn J Morris
- Department of Psychological Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Dartmouth, New Hampshire 03755
| | - Nicholas A Streltzov
- Department of Psychological Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Dartmouth, New Hampshire 03755
| | - Jeffrey S Taube
- Department of Psychological Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Dartmouth, New Hampshire 03755
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Simmons CM, Moseley SC, Ogg JD, Zhou X, Johnson M, Wu W, Clark BJ, Wilber AA. A thalamo-parietal cortex circuit is critical for place-action coordination. Hippocampus 2023; 33:1252-1266. [PMID: 37811797 PMCID: PMC10872801 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.23578] [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: 12/30/2022] [Revised: 08/28/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023]
Abstract
The anterior and lateral thalamus (ALT) contains head direction cells that signal the directional orientation of an individual within the environment. ALT has direct and indirect connections with the parietal cortex (PC), an area hypothesized to play a role in coordinating viewer-dependent and viewer-independent spatial reference frames. This coordination between reference frames would allow an individual to translate movements toward a desired location from memory. Thus, ALT-PC functional connectivity would be critical for moving toward remembered allocentric locations. This hypothesis was tested in rats with a place-action task that requires associating an appropriate action (left or right turn) with a spatial location. There are four arms, each offset by 90°, positioned around a central starting point. A trial begins in the central starting point. After exiting a pseudorandomly selected arm, the rat had to displace the correct object covering one of two (left versus right) feeding stations to receive a reward. For a pair of arms facing opposite directions, the reward was located on the left, and for the other pair, the reward was located on the right. Thus, each reward location had a different combination of allocentric location and egocentric action. Removal of an object was scored as correct or incorrect. Trials in which the rat did not displace any objects were scored as "no selection" trials. After an object was removed, the rat returned to the center starting position and the maze was reset for the next trial. To investigate the role of the ALT-PC network, muscimol inactivation infusions targeted bilateral PC, bilateral ALT, or the ALT-PC network. Muscimol sessions were counterbalanced and compared to saline sessions within the same animal. All inactivations resulted in decreased accuracy, but only bilateral PC inactivations resulted in increased non selecting, increased errors, and longer latency responses on the remaining trials. Thus, the ALT-PC circuit is critical for linking an action with a spatial location for successful navigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine M Simmons
- Department of Psychology, Program of Neuroscience, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
| | - Shawn C Moseley
- Department of Psychology, Program of Neuroscience, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
| | - Jordan D Ogg
- Department of Psychology, Program of Neuroscience, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
| | - Xinyu Zhou
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
| | - Madeline Johnson
- Department of Psychology, Program of Neuroscience, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
| | - Wei Wu
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
| | - Benjamin J Clark
- Department of Psychology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Aaron A Wilber
- Department of Psychology, Program of Neuroscience, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
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6
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Parra-Barrero E, Vijayabaskaran S, Seabrook E, Wiskott L, Cheng S. A map of spatial navigation for neuroscience. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 152:105200. [PMID: 37178943 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105200] [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: 01/25/2023] [Revised: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Spatial navigation has received much attention from neuroscientists, leading to the identification of key brain areas and the discovery of numerous spatially selective cells. Despite this progress, our understanding of how the pieces fit together to drive behavior is generally lacking. We argue that this is partly caused by insufficient communication between behavioral and neuroscientific researchers. This has led the latter to under-appreciate the relevance and complexity of spatial behavior, and to focus too narrowly on characterizing neural representations of space-disconnected from the computations these representations are meant to enable. We therefore propose a taxonomy of navigation processes in mammals that can serve as a common framework for structuring and facilitating interdisciplinary research in the field. Using the taxonomy as a guide, we review behavioral and neural studies of spatial navigation. In doing so, we validate the taxonomy and showcase its usefulness in identifying potential issues with common experimental approaches, designing experiments that adequately target particular behaviors, correctly interpreting neural activity, and pointing to new avenues of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eloy Parra-Barrero
- Institute for Neural Computation, Faculty of Computer Science, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany; International Graduate School of Neuroscience, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Sandhiya Vijayabaskaran
- Institute for Neural Computation, Faculty of Computer Science, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Eddie Seabrook
- Institute for Neural Computation, Faculty of Computer Science, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Laurenz Wiskott
- Institute for Neural Computation, Faculty of Computer Science, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany; International Graduate School of Neuroscience, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Sen Cheng
- Institute for Neural Computation, Faculty of Computer Science, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany; International Graduate School of Neuroscience, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
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Duszkiewicz AJ, Rossato JI, Moreno A, Takeuchi T, Yamasaki M, Genzel L, Spooner P, Canals S, Morris RGM. Execution of new trajectories toward a stable goal without a functional hippocampus. Hippocampus 2023; 33:769-786. [PMID: 36798045 PMCID: PMC10946713 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.23497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2022] [Revised: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/18/2023]
Abstract
The hippocampus is a critical component of a mammalian spatial navigation system, with the firing sequences of hippocampal place cells during sleep or immobility constituting a "replay" of an animal's past trajectories. A novel spatial navigation task recently revealed that such "replay" sequences of place fields can also prospectively map onto imminent new paths to a goal that occupies a stable location during each session. It was hypothesized that such "prospective replay" sequences may play a causal role in goal-directed navigation. In the present study, we query this putative causal role in finding only minimal effects of muscimol-induced inactivation of the dorsal and intermediate hippocampus on the same spatial navigation task. The concentration of muscimol used demonstrably inhibited hippocampal cell firing in vivo and caused a severe deficit in a hippocampal-dependent "episodic-like" spatial memory task in a watermaze. These findings call into question whether "prospective replay" of an imminent and direct path is actually necessary for its execution in certain navigational tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian J. Duszkiewicz
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh NeuroscienceUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of StirlingStirlingScotlandUK
| | - Janine I. Rossato
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh NeuroscienceUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
- Department of PhysiologyUniversidade Federal do Rio Grande do NorteRio Grande do NorteBrazil
| | - Andrea Moreno
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh NeuroscienceUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
- Instituto de Neurociencias, CSIC‐UMHSan Juan de AlicanteSpain
- Department of Biomedicine, Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience (DANDRITE)Aarhus UniversityAarhus CDenmark
| | - Tomonori Takeuchi
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh NeuroscienceUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
- Department of Biomedicine, Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience (DANDRITE)Aarhus UniversityAarhus CDenmark
| | - Miwako Yamasaki
- Department of Anatomy, Graduate School of MedicineHokkaido UniversitySapporoJapan
| | - Lisa Genzel
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh NeuroscienceUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and BehaviourRadboud University and RadboudumcNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Patrick Spooner
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh NeuroscienceUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
| | - Santiago Canals
- Instituto de Neurociencias, CSIC‐UMHSan Juan de AlicanteSpain
| | - Richard G. M. Morris
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh NeuroscienceUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
- Instituto de Neurociencias, CSIC‐UMHSan Juan de AlicanteSpain
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8
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Graham JA, Dumont JR, Winter SS, Brown JE, LaChance PA, Amon CC, Farnes KB, Morris AJ, Streltzov NA, Taube JS. Angular head velocity cells within brainstem nuclei projecting to the head direction circuit. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.29.534808. [PMID: 37034640 PMCID: PMC10081164 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.29.534808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
An animal's perceived sense of orientation depends upon the head direction (HD) system found in several limbic structures and depends upon an intact peripheral vestibular labyrinth. However, how the vestibular system influences the generation, maintenance, and updating of the HD signal remains poorly understood. Anatomical and lesion studies point towards three key brainstem nuclei as being potential critical components in generating the HD signal: nucleus prepositus hypoglossi (NPH), supragenual nucleus (SGN), and dorsal paragigantocellularis reticular nuclei (PGRNd). Collectively, these nuclei are situated between the vestibular nuclei and the dorsal tegmental and lateral mammillary nuclei, which are thought to serve as the origin of the HD signal. To test this hypothesis, extracellular recordings were made in these areas while rats either freely foraged in a cylindrical environment or were restrained and rotated passively. During foraging, a large subset of cells in all three nuclei exhibited activity that correlated with changes in the rat's angular head velocity (AHV). Two fundamental types of AHV cells were observed: 1) symmetrical AHV cells increased or decreased their neural firing with increases in AHV regardless of the direction of rotation; 2) asymmetrical AHV cells responded differentially to clockwise (CW) and counter-clockwise (CCW) head rotations. When rats were passively rotated, some AHV cells remained sensitive to AHV whereas others had attenuated firing. In addition, a large number of AHV cells were modulated by linear head velocity. These results indicate the types of information conveyed in the ascending vestibular pathways that are responsible for generating the HD signal. Significance Statement Extracellular recording of brainstem nuclei (nucleus prepositus hypoglossi, supragenual nucleus, and dorsal paragigantocellularis reticular nucleus) that project to the head direction circuit identified different types of angular head velocity (AHV) cells while rats freely foraged in a cylindrical environment. The firing of many cells was also modulated by linear velocity. When rats were restrained and passively rotated some cells remained sensitive to AHV, whereas others had attenuated firing. These brainstem nuclei provide critical information about the rotational movement of the rat's head in the azimuthal plane.
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9
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Ajabi Z, Keinath AT, Wei XX, Brandon MP. Population dynamics of head-direction neurons during drift and reorientation. Nature 2023; 615:892-899. [PMID: 36949190 PMCID: PMC10060160 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05813-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/24/2023]
Abstract
The head direction (HD) system functions as the brain's internal compass1,2, classically formalized as a one-dimensional ring attractor network3,4. In contrast to a globally consistent magnetic compass, the HD system does not have a universal reference frame. Instead, it anchors to local cues, maintaining a stable offset when cues rotate5-8 and drifting in the absence of referents5,8-10. However, questions about the mechanisms that underlie anchoring and drift remain unresolved and are best addressed at the population level. For example, the extent to which the one-dimensional description of population activity holds under conditions of reorientation and drift is unclear. Here we performed population recordings of thalamic HD cells using calcium imaging during controlled rotations of a visual landmark. Across experiments, population activity varied along a second dimension, which we refer to as network gain, especially under circumstances of cue conflict and ambiguity. Activity along this dimension predicted realignment and drift dynamics, including the speed of network realignment. In the dark, network gain maintained a 'memory trace' of the previously displayed landmark. Further experiments demonstrated that the HD network returned to its baseline orientation after brief, but not longer, exposures to a rotated cue. This experience dependence suggests that memory of previous associations between HD neurons and allocentric cues is maintained and influences the internal HD representation. Building on these results, we show that continuous rotation of a visual landmark induced rotation of the HD representation that persisted in darkness, demonstrating experience-dependent recalibration of the HD system. Finally, we propose a computational model to formalize how the neural compass flexibly adapts to changing environmental cues to maintain a reliable representation of HD. These results challenge classical one-dimensional interpretations of the HD system and provide insights into the interactions between this system and the cues to which it anchors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zaki Ajabi
- Department of Psychiatry, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, McGill University, Verdun, Quebec, Canada.
- Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Alexandra T Keinath
- Department of Psychiatry, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, McGill University, Verdun, Quebec, Canada
| | - Xue-Xin Wei
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
- Center for Perceptual Systems, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
- Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Mark P Brandon
- Department of Psychiatry, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, McGill University, Verdun, Quebec, Canada.
- Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
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10
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Fallahnezhad M, Le Mero J, Zenelaj X, Vincent J, Rochefort C, Rondi-Reig L. Cerebellar control of a unitary head direction sense. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2214539120. [PMID: 36812198 PMCID: PMC9992783 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2214539120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The head-direction (HD) system, a key neural circuit for navigation, consists of several anatomical structures containing neurons selective to the animal's head direction. HD cells exhibit ubiquitous temporal coordination across brain regions, independently of the animal's behavioral state or sensory inputs. Such temporal coordination mediates a single, stable, and persistent HD signal, which is essential for intact orientation. However, the mechanistic processes behind the temporal organization of HD cells are unknown. By manipulating the cerebellum, we identify pairs of HD cells recorded from two brain structures (anterodorsal thalamus and retrosplenial cortex) that lose their temporal coordination, specifically during the removal of the external sensory inputs. Further, we identify distinct cerebellar mechanisms that participate in the spatial stability of the HD signal depending on sensory signals. We show that while cerebellar protein phosphatase 2B-dependent mechanisms facilitate the anchoring of the HD signal on the external cues, the cerebellar protein kinase C-dependent mechanisms are required for the stability of the HD signal by self-motion cues. These results indicate that the cerebellum contributes to the preservation of a single and stable sense of direction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehdi Fallahnezhad
- Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médical, Institut de Biologie Paris Seine, Neurosciences Paris Seine, Cerebellum, Navigation and Memory Team, 75005Paris, France
- Inovarion, 75005Paris, France
| | - Julia Le Mero
- Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médical, Institut de Biologie Paris Seine, Neurosciences Paris Seine, Cerebellum, Navigation and Memory Team, 75005Paris, France
| | - Xhensjana Zenelaj
- Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médical, Institut de Biologie Paris Seine, Neurosciences Paris Seine, Cerebellum, Navigation and Memory Team, 75005Paris, France
| | - Jean Vincent
- Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médical, Institut de Biologie Paris Seine, Neurosciences Paris Seine, Cerebellum, Navigation and Memory Team, 75005Paris, France
| | - Christelle Rochefort
- Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médical, Institut de Biologie Paris Seine, Neurosciences Paris Seine, Cerebellum, Navigation and Memory Team, 75005Paris, France
| | - Laure Rondi-Reig
- Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médical, Institut de Biologie Paris Seine, Neurosciences Paris Seine, Cerebellum, Navigation and Memory Team, 75005Paris, France
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11
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Lai SK, Wu KLK, Ma CW, Ng KP, Hu XQ, Tam KW, Yung WH, Wang YT, Wong TP, Shum DKY, Chan YS. Timely insertion of AMPA receptor in developing vestibular circuits is required for manifestation of righting reflexes and effective navigation. Prog Neurobiol 2023; 221:102402. [PMID: 36608782 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2023.102402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Vestibular information processed first by the brainstem vestibular nucleus (VN), and further by cerebellum and thalamus, underlies diverse brain function. These include the righting reflexes and spatial cognitive behaviour. While the cerebellar and thalamic circuits that decode vestibular information are known, the importance of VN neurons and the temporal requirements for their maturation that allow developmental consolidation of the aforementioned circuits remains unclear. We show that timely unsilencing of glutamatergic circuits in the VN by NMDA receptor-mediated insertion of AMPAR receptor type 1 (GluA1) subunits is critical for maturation of VN and successful consolidation of higher circuits that process vestibular information. Delayed unsilencing of NMDA receptor-only synapses of neonatal VN neurons permanently decreased their functional connectivity with inferior olive circuits. This was accompanied by delayed pruning of the inferior olive inputs to Purkinje cells and permanent reduction in their plasticity. These derangements led to deficits in associated vestibular righting reflexes and motor co-ordination during voluntary movement. Vestibular-dependent recruitment of thalamic neurons was similarly reduced, resulting in permanently decreased efficiency of spatial navigation. The findings thus show that well-choreographed maturation of the nascent vestibular circuitry is prerequisite for functional integration of vestibular signals into ascending pathways for diverse vestibular-related behaviours.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suk-King Lai
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China
| | - Kenneth Lap Kei Wu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China
| | - Chun-Wai Ma
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China
| | - Ka-Pak Ng
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China
| | - Xiao-Qian Hu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China
| | - Kin-Wai Tam
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China
| | - Wing-Ho Yung
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, PR China
| | - Yu Tian Wang
- Department of Medicine and Brain Research Centre, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Tak Pan Wong
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
| | - Daisy Kwok-Yan Shum
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
| | - Ying-Shing Chan
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
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12
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Rondi-Reig L, Paradis AL, Fallahnezhad M. A Liaison Brought to Light: Cerebellum-Hippocampus, Partners for Spatial Cognition. CEREBELLUM (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2022; 21:826-837. [PMID: 35752720 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-022-01422-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
This review focuses on the functional and anatomical links between the cerebellum and the hippocampus and the role of their interplay in goal-directed navigation and spatial cognition. We will describe the interactions between the cerebellum and the hippocampus at different scales: a macroscopic scale revealing the joint activations of these two structures at the level of neuronal circuits, a mesoscopic scale highlighting the synchronization of neuronal oscillations, and finally a cellular scale where we will describe the activity of hippocampal neuronal assemblies following a targeted manipulation of the cerebellar system. We will take advantage of this framework to summarize the different anatomical pathways that may sustain this multiscale interaction. We will finally consider the possible influence of the cerebellum on pathologies traditionally associated with hippocampal dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laure Rondi-Reig
- Institut de Biologie Paris Seine (IBPS), Cerebellum Navigation and Memory Team (CeZaMe), Sorbonne Université, CNRS, INSERM, Neurosciences Paris Seine (NPS), 75005, Paris, France.
| | - Anne-Lise Paradis
- Institut de Biologie Paris Seine (IBPS), Cerebellum Navigation and Memory Team (CeZaMe), Sorbonne Université, CNRS, INSERM, Neurosciences Paris Seine (NPS), 75005, Paris, France
| | - Mehdi Fallahnezhad
- Institut de Biologie Paris Seine (IBPS), Cerebellum Navigation and Memory Team (CeZaMe), Sorbonne Université, CNRS, INSERM, Neurosciences Paris Seine (NPS), 75005, Paris, France
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13
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Asumbisa K, Peyrache A, Trenholm S. Flexible cue anchoring strategies enable stable head direction coding in both sighted and blind animals. Nat Commun 2022; 13:5483. [PMID: 36123333 PMCID: PMC9485117 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33204-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Vision plays a crucial role in instructing the brain’s spatial navigation systems. However, little is known about how vision loss affects the neuronal encoding of spatial information. Here, recording from head direction (HD) cells in the anterior dorsal nucleus of the thalamus in mice, we find stable and robust HD tuning in rd1 mice, a model of photoreceptor degeneration, that go blind by approximately one month of age. In contrast, placing sighted animals in darkness significantly impairs HD cell tuning. We find that blind mice use olfactory cues to maintain stable HD tuning and that prior visual experience leads to refined HD cell tuning in blind rd1 adult mice compared to congenitally blind animals. Finally, in the absence of both visual and olfactory cues, the HD attractor network remains intact but the preferred firing direction of HD cells drifts over time. These findings demonstrate flexibility in how the brain uses diverse sensory information to generate a stable directional representation of space. Vision plays an important role in the head direction cell system in animals. Here the authors recorded from head direction cells in rd1 mice that show retinal degeneration at 1 month, and find that they use smell cues to maintain stable HD tuning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kadjita Asumbisa
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Adrien Peyrache
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Stuart Trenholm
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada.
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14
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Lipman J, Fergusson L, Bonshek A, Schneider RH. Managing the Built Environment for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention With Maharishi Vastu Architecture: A Review. Glob Adv Health Med 2022; 11:2164957X221077084. [PMID: 35558577 PMCID: PMC9087237 DOI: 10.1177/2164957x221077084] [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: 05/14/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background and objectives The evolution of healthcare from 18th-century reductionism to 21st-century postgenomic holism has been described in terms of systems medicine, and the impact of the built environment on human health is the focus of investigation and development, leading to the new specialty of evidence-based, therapeutic architecture. The traditional system of Vāstu architecture-a design paradigm for buildings which is proposed to promote mental and physical health-has been applied and studied in the West in the last 20 years, and features elements absent from other approaches. This review critically evaluates the theory and research of a well-developed, standardized form of Vāstu-Maharishi Vastu® architecture (MVA). MVA's principles include development of the architect's consciousness, universal recommendations for building orientation, siting, and dimensions; placement of key functions; and occupants' head direction when sleeping or performing tasks. The effects of isolated Vāstu elements included in MVA are presented. However, the full value of MVA, documented as a systematic, globally applicable practice, is in the effect of its complete package, and thus this review of MVA includes evaluating the experience of living and working in MVA buildings. Methods The published medical and health-related literature was systematically surveyed for research on factors related to isolated principles applied in MVA as well as on the complete system. Results Published research suggests that incorporating MVA principles into buildings correlates with significant improvements in occupants' physical and mental health and quality of life: better sleep, greater happiness of children, and the experience of heightened sense of security and reduced stress. The frequency of burglaries, a social determinant of health, also correlates. Potential neurophysiological mechanisms are described. Conclusions Findings suggest that MVA offers an actionable approach for managing a key social determinant of health by using architectural design as preventive medicine and in public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jon Lipman
- Institute for Vedic Architecture,
Maharishi International University, Fairfield, IA, USA
| | - Lee Fergusson
- Professor, Maharishi Vedic Research
Institute, Gold Coast, AU-QLD, Australia
| | - Anna Bonshek
- Professor, Maharishi Vedic Research
Institute, Gold Coast, AU-QLD, Australia
| | - Robert H. Schneider
- College of Integrative Medicine, Maharishi International
University, Fairfield, IA, USA
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15
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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: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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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16
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Colomer S, Cuperlier N, Bresson G, Gaussier P, Romain O. LPMP: A Bio-Inspired Model for Visual Localization in Challenging Environments. Front Robot AI 2022; 8:703811. [PMID: 35187091 PMCID: PMC8855039 DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2021.703811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Autonomous vehicles require precise and reliable self-localization to cope with dynamic environments. The field of visual place recognition (VPR) aims to solve this challenge by relying on the visual modality to recognize a place despite changes in the appearance of the perceived visual scene. In this paper, we propose to tackle the VPR problem following a neuro-cybernetic approach. To this end, the Log-Polar Max-Pi (LPMP) model is introduced. This bio-inspired neural network allows building a neural representation of the environment via an unsupervised one-shot learning. Inspired by the spatial cognition of mammals, visual information in the LPMP model are processed through two distinct pathways: a "what" pathway that extracts and learns the local visual signatures (landmarks) of a visual scene and a "where" pathway that computes their azimuth. These two pieces of information are then merged to build a visuospatial code that is characteristic of the place where the visual scene was perceived. Three main contributions are presented in this article: 1) the LPMP model is studied and compared with NetVLAD and CoHog, two state-of-the-art VPR models; 2) a test benchmark for the evaluation of VPR models according to the type of environment traveled is proposed based on the Oxford car dataset; and 3) the impact of the use of a novel detector leading to an uneven paving of an environment is evaluated in terms of the localization performance and compared to a regular paving. Our experiments show that the LPMP model can achieve comparable or better localization performance than NetVLAD and CoHog.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylvain Colomer
- Institut de Recherche Vedecom, Versailles, France
- Laboratoire ETIS UMR8051, CY Cergy Paris Université, ENSEA, CNRS, Cergy, France
| | - Nicolas Cuperlier
- Laboratoire ETIS UMR8051, CY Cergy Paris Université, ENSEA, CNRS, Cergy, France
| | | | - Philippe Gaussier
- Laboratoire ETIS UMR8051, CY Cergy Paris Université, ENSEA, CNRS, Cergy, France
| | - Olivier Romain
- Laboratoire ETIS UMR8051, CY Cergy Paris Université, ENSEA, CNRS, Cergy, France
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17
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Nyberg N, Duvelle É, Barry C, Spiers HJ. Spatial goal coding in the hippocampal formation. Neuron 2022; 110:394-422. [PMID: 35032426 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Revised: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 12/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The mammalian hippocampal formation contains several distinct populations of neurons involved in representing self-position and orientation. These neurons, which include place, grid, head direction, and boundary-vector cells, are thought to collectively instantiate cognitive maps supporting flexible navigation. However, to flexibly navigate, it is necessary to also maintain internal representations of goal locations, such that goal-directed routes can be planned and executed. Although it has remained unclear how the mammalian brain represents goal locations, multiple neural candidates have recently been uncovered during different phases of navigation. For example, during planning, sequential activation of spatial cells may enable simulation of future routes toward the goal. During travel, modulation of spatial cells by the prospective route, or by distance and direction to the goal, may allow maintenance of route and goal-location information, supporting navigation on an ongoing basis. As the goal is approached, an increased activation of spatial cells may enable the goal location to become distinctly represented within cognitive maps, aiding goal localization. Lastly, after arrival at the goal, sequential activation of spatial cells may represent the just-taken route, enabling route learning and evaluation. Here, we review and synthesize these and other evidence for goal coding in mammalian brains, relate the experimental findings to predictions from computational models, and discuss outstanding questions and future challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nils Nyberg
- Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Éléonore Duvelle
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Caswell Barry
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Hugo J Spiers
- Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UK.
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18
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Keshavarzi S, Bracey EF, Faville RA, Campagner D, Tyson AL, Lenzi SC, Branco T, Margrie TW. Multisensory coding of angular head velocity in the retrosplenial cortex. Neuron 2021; 110:532-543.e9. [PMID: 34788632 PMCID: PMC8823706 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.10.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2021] [Revised: 07/29/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
To successfully navigate the environment, animals depend on their ability to continuously track their heading direction and speed. Neurons that encode angular head velocity (AHV) are fundamental to this process, yet the contribution of various motion signals to AHV coding in the cortex remains elusive. By performing chronic single-unit recordings in the retrosplenial cortex (RSP) of the mouse and tracking the activity of individual AHV cells between freely moving and head-restrained conditions, we find that vestibular inputs dominate AHV signaling. Moreover, the addition of visual inputs onto these neurons increases the gain and signal-to-noise ratio of their tuning during active exploration. Psychophysical experiments and neural decoding further reveal that vestibular-visual integration increases the perceptual accuracy of angular self-motion and the fidelity of its representation by RSP ensembles. We conclude that while cortical AHV coding requires vestibular input, where possible, it also uses vision to optimize heading estimation during navigation. Angular head velocity (AHV) coding is widespread in the retrosplenial cortex (RSP) AHV cells maintain their tuning during passive motion and require vestibular input The perception of angular self-motion is improved when visual cues are present AHV coding is similarly improved when both vestibular and visual stimuli are used
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Affiliation(s)
- Sepiedeh Keshavarzi
- Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London (UCL), 25 Howland Street, London W1T 4JG, United Kingdom.
| | - Edward F Bracey
- Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London (UCL), 25 Howland Street, London W1T 4JG, United Kingdom
| | - Richard A Faville
- Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London (UCL), 25 Howland Street, London W1T 4JG, United Kingdom
| | - Dario Campagner
- Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London (UCL), 25 Howland Street, London W1T 4JG, United Kingdom; Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London (UCL), 25 Howland Street, London W1T 4JG, United Kingdom
| | - Adam L Tyson
- Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London (UCL), 25 Howland Street, London W1T 4JG, United Kingdom
| | - Stephen C Lenzi
- Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London (UCL), 25 Howland Street, London W1T 4JG, United Kingdom
| | - Tiago Branco
- Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London (UCL), 25 Howland Street, London W1T 4JG, United Kingdom
| | - Troy W Margrie
- Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London (UCL), 25 Howland Street, London W1T 4JG, United Kingdom.
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19
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Silva DG, Xavier GF. Anterior thalamic NMDA-induced damage impairs extrapolation relying on serial stimulus patterns, in rats. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2021; 185:107536. [PMID: 34634435 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2021.107536] [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: 03/29/2021] [Revised: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Extrapolation of serial stimulus patterns seems to depend upon identification and application of patterns relating sequences of stimuli stored in memory, thus allowing prediction of pending events never experienced before. There have been proposals that such a "generator of predictions system" would include the subiculum, mammillary bodies, anteroventral thalamus and cingulate cortex (e.g., Gray, 1982). The anteroventral thalamus (AVT) seems to be in a strategic position, both hodologically and experimentally, to allow testing of this hypothesis. This study investigated the effect of NMDA-induced damage to the anteroventral thalamus [part of the anterodorsal (AD) thalamus was also damaged in some animals], following stereotaxic minute topic microinjections, on the ability of male Wistar rats to extrapolate relying on serial stimulus patterns. Corresponding sham-operated controls received phosphate-saline buffer microinjections at the same stereotaxic coordinates. The subjects were trained to run through a straight alleyway along 31 sessions, one session per day, to get rewarded. Each session included four successive trials. Subjects exposed to the monotonic serial pattern received 14, 7, 3, 1 sunflower seeds along trials. Subjects exposed to the non-monotonic serial pattern received 14, 3, 7, 1 sunflower seeds. On the 32nd testing session, a fifth trial, never experienced before, was included immediately after the fourth trial. Sham-operated control subjects exposed to the monotonic serial pattern were expected to exhibit longer running times, since the content of their prediction in the fifth trial should be "less than 1 sunflower seeds". In contrast, control subjects exposed to the non-monotonic serial pattern were expected to exhibit shorter running times, since the content of their prediction would be "more than 1 sunflower seeds". Confirming these predictions, control subjects exposed to the monotonic serial pattern exhibited longer running times as compared to both, their own running times in previous trials within the same session and control subjects exposed to the non-monotonic schedule, thus indicating the occurrence of extrapolation. In contrast, AVT/AD lesioned subjects exposed to the monotonic schedule did not exhibit this increase in running times on the fifth trial, indicating lack of extrapolation. These results indicate that extrapolation relying on serial stimulus patterns is disrupted following extensive NMDA-induced damage to AVT and part of the AD. This represents the first consistent demonstration that the anterior thalamic nuclei are required for extrapolation of serial stimulus patterns and generation of predictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel G Silva
- Laboratory of Neuroscience and Behavior, Department of Physiology, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil, 05508-090.
| | - Gilberto F Xavier
- Laboratory of Neuroscience and Behavior, Department of Physiology, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil, 05508-090.
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20
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Sutton NM, Ascoli GA. Spiking Neural Networks and Hippocampal Function: A Web-Accessible Survey of Simulations, Modeling Methods, and Underlying Theories. COGN SYST RES 2021; 70:80-92. [PMID: 34504394 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogsys.2021.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Computational modeling has contributed to hippocampal research in a wide variety of ways and through a large diversity of approaches, reflecting the many advanced cognitive roles of this brain region. The intensively studied neuron type circuitry of the hippocampus is a particularly conducive substrate for spiking neural models. Here we present an online knowledge base of spiking neural network simulations of hippocampal functions. First, we overview theories involving the hippocampal formation in subjects such as spatial representation, learning, and memory. Then we describe an original literature mining process to organize published reports in various key aspects, including: (i) subject area (e.g., navigation, pattern completion, epilepsy); (ii) level of modeling detail (Hodgkin-Huxley, integrate-and-fire, etc.); and (iii) theoretical framework (attractor dynamics, oscillatory interference, self-organizing maps, and others). Moreover, every peer-reviewed publication is also annotated to indicate the specific neuron types represented in the network simulation, establishing a direct link with the Hippocampome.org portal. The web interface of the knowledge base enables dynamic content browsing and advanced searches, and consistently presents evidence supporting every annotation. Moreover, users are given access to several types of statistical reports about the collection, a selection of which is summarized in this paper. This open access resource thus provides an interactive platform to survey spiking neural network models of hippocampal functions, compare available computational methods, and foster ideas for suitable new directions of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nate M Sutton
- Department of Bioengineering, 4400 University Drive, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, 22030 (USA)
| | - Giorgio A Ascoli
- Department of Bioengineering, 4400 University Drive, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, 22030 (USA).,Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, 4400 University Drive, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, 22030 (USA)
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21
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Mehlman ML, Marcroft JL, Taube JS. Anatomical projections to the dorsal tegmental nucleus and abducens nucleus arise from separate cell populations in the nucleus prepositus hypoglossi, but overlapping cell populations in the medial vestibular nucleus. J Comp Neurol 2021; 529:2706-2726. [PMID: 33511641 PMCID: PMC8113086 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25119] [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] [Revised: 01/14/2021] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Specialized circuitry in the brain processes spatial information to provide a sense of direction used for navigation. The dorsal tegmental nucleus (DTN) is a core component of this circuitry and utilizes vestibular inputs to generate neural activity encoding the animal's directional heading. Projections arising from the nucleus prepositus hypoglossi (NPH) and the medial vestibular nucleus (MVe) are thought to transmit critical vestibular signals to the DTN and other brain areas, including the abducens nucleus (ABN), a component of eye movement circuitry. Here, we utilized a dual retrograde tracer approach in rats to investigate whether overlapping or distinct populations of neurons project from the NPH or MVe to the DTN and ABN. We report that individual MVe neurons project to both the DTN and ABN. In contrast, we observed individual NPH neurons that project to either the DTN or ABN, but rarely to both structures simultaneously. We also examined labeling patterns in other structures located in the brainstem and posterior cortex and observed (1) complex patterns of interhemispheric connectivity between the left and right DTN, (2) projections from the supragenual nucleus, interpeduncular nucleus, and retrosplenial cortex to the DTN, (3) projections from the lateral superior olive to the ABN, and (4) a unique population of cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus. Collectively, our experiments provide valuable new information that extends our understanding of the anatomical organization of the brain's spatial processing circuitry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max L. Mehlman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Jennifer L. Marcroft
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Jeffrey S. Taube
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
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22
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A Thalamic Reticular Circuit for Head Direction Cell Tuning and Spatial Navigation. Cell Rep 2021; 31:107747. [PMID: 32521272 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Revised: 02/13/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
As we navigate in space, external landmarks and internal information guide our movement. Circuit and synaptic mechanisms that integrate these cues with head-direction (HD) signals remain, however, unclear. We identify an excitatory synaptic projection from the presubiculum (PreS) and the multisensory-associative retrosplenial cortex (RSC) to the anterodorsal thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), so far classically implied in gating sensory information flow. In vitro, projections to TRN involve AMPA/NMDA-type glutamate receptors that initiate TRN cell burst discharge and feedforward inhibition of anterior thalamic nuclei. In vivo, chemogenetic anterodorsal TRN inhibition modulates PreS/RSC-induced anterior thalamic firing dynamics, broadens the tuning of thalamic HD cells, and leads to preferential use of allo- over egocentric search strategies in the Morris water maze. TRN-dependent thalamic inhibition is thus an integral part of limbic navigational circuits wherein it coordinates external sensory and internal HD signals to regulate the choice of search strategies during spatial navigation.
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23
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Smith AE, Wood ER, Dudchenko PA. The stimulus control of local enclosures and barriers over head direction and place cell spatial firing. Brain Behav 2021; 11:e02070. [PMID: 33606361 PMCID: PMC8119864 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.2070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2020] [Revised: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 01/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Head direction cell and place cell spatially tuned firing is often anchored to salient visual landmarks on the periphery of a recording environment. What is less well understood is whether structural features of an environment, such as orientation of a maze sub-compartment or a polarizing barrier, can likewise control spatial firing. METHOD We recorded from 54 head direction cells in the medial entorhinal cortex and subicular region of male Lister Hooded rats while they explored an apparatus with four parallel or four radially arranged compartments (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, we recorded from 130 place cells (in Lister- and Long-Evans Hooded rats) and 30 head direction cells with 90° rotations of a cue card and a barrier in a single environment (Experiment 2). RESULTS We found that head direction cells maintained a similar preferred firing direction across four separate maze compartments even when these faced different directions (Experiment 1). However, in an environment with a single compartment, we observed that both a barrier and a cue card exerted comparable amounts of stimulus control over head direction cells and place cells (Experiment 2). CONCLUSION The maintenance of a stable directional orientation across maze compartments suggests that the head direction cell system has the capacity to provide a global directional reference that allows the animal to distinguish otherwise similar maze compartments based on the compartment's orientation. A barrier is, however, capable of controlling spatially tuned firing in an environment in which it is the sole polarizing feature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna E Smith
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.,Division of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.,University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, UK
| | - Emma R Wood
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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24
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Anson E, Ehrenburg MR, Simonsick EM, Agrawal Y. Association between vestibular function and rotational spatial orientation perception in older adults. J Vestib Res 2021; 31:469-478. [PMID: 33579887 PMCID: PMC11172369 DOI: 10.3233/ves-201582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Spatial orientation is a complex process involving vestibular sensory input and possibly cognitive ability. Previous research demonstrated that rotational spatial orientation was worse for individuals with profound bilateral vestibular dysfunction. OBJECTIVE Determine whether rotational and linear vestibular function were independently associated with large amplitude rotational spatial orientation perception in healthy aging. METHODS Tests of rotational spatial orientation accuracy and vestibular function [vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR), ocular and cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP)] were administered to 272 healthy community-dwelling adults participating in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Using a mixed model multiple linear regression we regressed spatial orientation errors on lateral semicircular canal function, utricular function (ocular VEMP), and saccular function (cervical VEMP) in a single model controlling for rotation size, age, and sex. RESULTS After adjusting for age, and sex, individuals with bilaterally low VOR gain (β= 20.9, p = 0.014) and those with bilaterally absent utricular function (β= 9.32, p = 0.017) made significantly larger spatial orientation errors relative to individuals with normal vestibular function. CONCLUSIONS The current results demonstrate for the first time that either bilateral lateral semicircular canal dysfunction or bilateral utricular dysfunction are associated with worse rotational spatial orientation. We also demonstrated in a healthy aging cohort that increased age also contributes to spatial orientation ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Anson
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - M R Ehrenburg
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - E M Simonsick
- Longitudinal Studies Section, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Y Agrawal
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
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25
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Turner-Evans DB, Jensen KT, Ali S, Paterson T, Sheridan A, Ray RP, Wolff T, Lauritzen JS, Rubin GM, Bock DD, Jayaraman V. The Neuroanatomical Ultrastructure and Function of a Biological Ring Attractor. Neuron 2020; 108:145-163.e10. [PMID: 32916090 PMCID: PMC8356802 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Revised: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Neural representations of head direction (HD) have been discovered in many species. Theoretical work has proposed that the dynamics associated with these representations are generated, maintained, and updated by recurrent network structures called ring attractors. We evaluated this theorized structure-function relationship by performing electron-microscopy-based circuit reconstruction and RNA profiling of identified cell types in the HD system of Drosophila melanogaster. We identified motifs that have been hypothesized to maintain the HD representation in darkness, update it when the animal turns, and tether it to visual cues. Functional studies provided support for the proposed roles of individual excitatory or inhibitory circuit elements in shaping activity. We also discovered recurrent connections between neuronal arbors with mixed pre- and postsynaptic specializations. Our results confirm that the Drosophila HD network contains the core components of a ring attractor while also revealing unpredicted structural features that might enhance the network's computational power.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kristopher T Jensen
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA; Computational and Biological Learning Lab, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Saba Ali
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Tyler Paterson
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Arlo Sheridan
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Robert P Ray
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Tanya Wolff
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - J Scott Lauritzen
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Gerald M Rubin
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
| | - Davi D Bock
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA; Department of Neurological Sciences, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
| | - Vivek Jayaraman
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
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Munn RGK, Giocomo LM. Multiple head direction signals within entorhinal cortex: origin and function. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2020; 64:32-40. [DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2020.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2019] [Revised: 01/23/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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27
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Nau M, Navarro Schröder T, Frey M, Doeller CF. Behavior-dependent directional tuning in the human visual-navigation network. Nat Commun 2020; 11:3247. [PMID: 32591544 PMCID: PMC7320013 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17000-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2019] [Accepted: 06/05/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The brain derives cognitive maps from sensory experience that guide memory formation and behavior. Despite extensive efforts, it still remains unclear how the underlying population activity unfolds during spatial navigation and how it relates to memory performance. To examine these processes, we combined 7T-fMRI with a kernel-based encoding model of virtual navigation to map world-centered directional tuning across the human cortex. First, we present an in-depth analysis of directional tuning in visual, retrosplenial, parahippocampal and medial temporal cortices. Second, we show that tuning strength, width and topology of this directional code during memory-guided navigation depend on successful encoding of the environment. Finally, we show that participants' locomotory state influences this tuning in sensory and mnemonic regions such as the hippocampus. We demonstrate a direct link between neural population tuning and human cognition, where high-level memory processing interacts with network-wide visuospatial coding in the service of behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Nau
- Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Centre for Neural Computation, The Egil and Pauline Braathen and Fred Kavli Centre for Cortical Microcircuits, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway.
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Tobias Navarro Schröder
- Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Centre for Neural Computation, The Egil and Pauline Braathen and Fred Kavli Centre for Cortical Microcircuits, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Markus Frey
- Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Centre for Neural Computation, The Egil and Pauline Braathen and Fred Kavli Centre for Cortical Microcircuits, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christian F Doeller
- Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Centre for Neural Computation, The Egil and Pauline Braathen and Fred Kavli Centre for Cortical Microcircuits, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway.
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
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28
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Compensation for wind drift in the nocturnally migrating Song Thrushes in relation to altitude and wind. Behav Processes 2020; 177:104154. [PMID: 32479841 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Revised: 05/23/2020] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Compensation for wind drift in relation to the side-wind velocity and altitude was investigated in Song Thrushes during autumn migration. The birds were recorded at night flying above the prominent leading line of a marine spit which coincided with the general direction of their migration. Among the large size passerine species, Song Thrushes were identified by a combination of five flight characteristics typical only of this species during particular periods of autumn. The thrushes showed different reactions to the crosswinds: complete and partial compensation for the displacement and drift. Under normal visibility, the completeness of compensation depended both on the velocity of the side-wind and altitude. The degree of compensation achieved was reduced with an increase of altitude, regardless of the wind. Under the same wind conditions, the angle of drift (the angle between the track direction and the leading line) increased with altitude, but the number of birds that compensated for drift decreased. On average, at heights below 300 m agl, the thrushes were capable of compensating completely for moderate winds; between 300 and 600 m agl compensation was partial; but above 600 m the birds drifted completely. Birds of the same species flying above the same terrain may demonstrate different reactions to the same crosswind depending on altitude. Meanwhile, flight tracks gradually deviated from the leading line with an increase in altitude, the headings of the birds got closer to the general migratory direction. It is more likely that the birds control displacement using the visual flow regulation principle by the angular velocity of the landmarks below them running aside in relation to their flight direction, which is inversely proportional to the altitude. Low flying thrushes promptly reacted to the shifting of the leading line of the spit with an average angular velocity of more than 0.8°/s perpendicular to the direction of flight and compensated completely for drift. Shifting of the leading line with an angular velocity of less than 0.4°/s, the high flying birds did not seem to notice or did not try to compensate for displacement deliberately.
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29
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Kaplan HS, Zimmer M. Brain-wide representations of ongoing behavior: a universal principle? Curr Opin Neurobiol 2020; 64:60-69. [PMID: 32203874 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2020.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2020] [Revised: 02/16/2020] [Accepted: 02/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Recent neuronal activity recordings of unprecedented breadth and depth in worms, flies, and mice have uncovered a surprising common feature: brain-wide behavior-related signals. These signals pervade, and even dominate, neuronal populations thought to function primarily in sensory processing. Such convergent findings across organisms suggest that brain-wide representations of behavior might be a universal neuroscientific principle. What purpose(s) do these representations serve? Here we review these findings along with suggested functions, including sensory prediction, context-dependent sensory processing, and, perhaps most speculatively, distributed motor command generation. It appears that a large proportion of the brain's energy and coding capacity is used to represent ongoing behavior; understanding the function of these representations should therefore be a major goal in neuroscience research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harris S Kaplan
- Department of Neuroscience and Developmental Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria; Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Campus-Vienna-Biocenter 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Manuel Zimmer
- Department of Neuroscience and Developmental Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria; Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Campus-Vienna-Biocenter 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
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30
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Angelaki DE, Laurens J. The head direction cell network: attractor dynamics, integration within the navigation system, and three-dimensional properties. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2020; 60:136-144. [PMID: 31877492 PMCID: PMC7002189 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2019.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2019] [Revised: 12/02/2019] [Accepted: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Knowledge of head direction cell function has progressed remarkably in recent years. The predominant theory that they form an attractor has been confirmed by several experiments. Candidate pathways that may convey visual input have been identified. The pre-subicular circuitry that conveys head direction signals to the medial entorhinal cortex, potentially sustaining path integration by grid cells, has been resolved. Although the neuronal substrate of the attractor remains unknown in mammals, a simple head direction network, whose structure is astoundingly similar to neuronal models theorized decades earlier, has been identified in insects. Finally, recent experiments have revealed that these cells do not encode head direction in the horizontal plane only, but also in vertical planes, thus providing a 3D orientation signal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dora E Angelaki
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA; Center for Neural Science and Tandon School of Engineering, New York University, NY, USA
| | - Jean Laurens
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA; Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience, Frankfurt, Germany.
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31
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Harvey RE, Berkowitz LE, Hamilton DA, Clark BJ. The effects of developmental alcohol exposure on the neurobiology of spatial processing. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 107:775-794. [PMID: 31526818 PMCID: PMC6876993 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.09.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2019] [Revised: 08/02/2019] [Accepted: 09/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The consumption of alcohol during gestation is detrimental to the developing central nervous system. One functional outcome of this exposure is impaired spatial processing, defined as sensing and integrating information pertaining to spatial navigation and spatial memory. The hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, and anterior thalamus are brain regions implicated in spatial processing and are highly susceptible to the effects of developmental alcohol exposure. Some of the observed effects of alcohol on spatial processing may be attributed to changes at the synaptic to circuit level. In this review, we first describe the impact of developmental alcohol exposure on spatial behavior followed by a summary of the development of brain areas involved in spatial processing. We then provide an examination of the consequences of prenatal and early postnatal alcohol exposure in rodents on hippocampal, anterior thalamus, and entorhinal cortex-dependent spatial processing from the cellular to behavioral level. We conclude by highlighting several unanswered questions which may provide a framework for future investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan E Harvey
- Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Laura E Berkowitz
- Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Derek A Hamilton
- Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Benjamin J Clark
- Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States.
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32
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Kim SS, Hermundstad AM, Romani S, Abbott LF, Jayaraman V. Generation of stable heading representations in diverse visual scenes. Nature 2019; 576:126-131. [PMID: 31748750 PMCID: PMC8115876 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1767-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2018] [Accepted: 10/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Many animals rely on an internal heading representation when navigating in varied environments1-10. How this representation is linked to the sensory cues that define different surroundings is unclear. In the fly brain, heading is represented by 'compass' neurons that innervate a ring-shaped structure known as the ellipsoid body3,11,12. Each compass neuron receives inputs from 'ring' neurons that are selective for particular visual features13-16; this combination provides an ideal substrate for the extraction of directional information from a visual scene. Here we combine two-photon calcium imaging and optogenetics in tethered flying flies with circuit modelling, and show how the correlated activity of compass and visual neurons drives plasticity17-22, which flexibly transforms two-dimensional visual cues into a stable heading representation. We also describe how this plasticity enables the fly to convert a partial heading representation, established from orienting within part of a novel setting, into a complete heading representation. Our results provide mechanistic insight into the memory-related computations that are essential for flexible navigation in varied surroundings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sung Soo Kim
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA.
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
| | - Ann M Hermundstad
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - Sandro Romani
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
| | - L F Abbott
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Vivek Jayaraman
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA.
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33
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Dillingham CM, Vann SD. Why Isn't the Head Direction System Necessary for Direction? Lessons From the Lateral Mammillary Nuclei. Front Neural Circuits 2019; 13:60. [PMID: 31619970 PMCID: PMC6759954 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2019.00060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2019] [Accepted: 08/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Complex spatial representations in the hippocampal formation and related cortical areas require input from the head direction system. However, a recurrent finding is that behavior apparently supported by these spatial representations does not appear to require input from generative head direction regions, i.e., lateral mammillary nuclei (LMN). Spatial tasks that tax direction discrimination should be particularly sensitive to the loss of head direction information, however, this has been repeatedly shown not to be the case. A further dissociation between electrophysiological properties of the head direction system and behavior comes in the form of geometric-based navigation which is impaired following lesions to the head direction system, yet head direction cells are not normally guided by geometric cues. We explore this apparent mismatch between behavioral and electrophysiological studies and highlight future experiments that are needed to generate models that encompass both neurophysiological and behavioral findings.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Seralynne D Vann
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
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34
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Green J, Vijayan V, Mussells Pires P, Adachi A, Maimon G. A neural heading estimate is compared with an internal goal to guide oriented navigation. Nat Neurosci 2019; 22:1460-1468. [PMID: 31332373 PMCID: PMC7688015 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0444-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Goal-directed navigation is thought to rely on the activity of head-direction cells, but how this activity guides moment-to-moment action remains poorly understood. Here we characterize how heading neurons in the Drosophila central complex guide moment-to-moment actions. We establish an innate, heading-neuron dependent, tethered navigational behavior where walking flies maintain a straight trajectory along a specific angular bearing for hundreds of body lengths. While flies perform this task, we use chemogenetics to transiently rotate their neural heading estimate and observe that the flies slow down and turn in a direction that aims to return the heading estimate to the angle it occupied prior to stimulation. These results support a working model in which the fly brain quantitatively compares an internal estimate of current heading with an internal goal heading and uses the sign and magnitude of the difference to determine which way to turn, how hard to turn, and how fast to walk forward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Green
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.,Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Vikram Vijayan
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Peter Mussells Pires
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Atsuko Adachi
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Gaby Maimon
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
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35
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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: 5.8] [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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36
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Dudchenko PA, Wood ER, Smith A. A new perspective on the head direction cell system and spatial behavior. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 105:24-33. [PMID: 31276715 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.06.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2018] [Revised: 05/10/2019] [Accepted: 06/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The head direction cell system is an interconnected set of brain structures containing neurons whose firing is directionally tuned. The robust representation of allocentric direction by head direction cells suggests that they provide a neural compass for the animal. However, evidence linking head direction cells and spatial behavior has been mixed. Whereas damage to the hippocampus yields profound deficits in a range of spatial tasks, lesions to the head direction cell system often yield milder impairments in spatial behavior. In addition, correlational approaches have shown a correspondence between head direction cells and spatial behavior in some tasks, but not others. These mixed effects may be explained in part by a new view of the head direction cell system arising from recent demonstrations of at least two types of head direction cells: 'traditional' cells, and a second class of 'sensory' cells driven by polarising features of an environment. The recognition of different kinds of head direction cells now allows a nuanced assessment of this system's role in guiding navigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul A Dudchenko
- University of Stirling, Psychology, School of Natural Sciences, Stirling, FK9 4LA, United Kingdom.
| | - Emma R Wood
- University of Edinburgh, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, 1 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, United Kingdom
| | - Anna Smith
- University of Stirling, Psychology, School of Natural Sciences, Stirling, FK9 4LA, United Kingdom; University of Edinburgh, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, 1 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, United Kingdom
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37
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Cullen KE. Vestibular processing during natural self-motion: implications for perception and action. Nat Rev Neurosci 2019; 20:346-363. [PMID: 30914780 PMCID: PMC6611162 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-019-0153-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 155] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
How the brain computes accurate estimates of our self-motion relative to the world and our orientation relative to gravity in order to ensure accurate perception and motor control is a fundamental neuroscientific question. Recent experiments have revealed that the vestibular system encodes this information during everyday activities using pathway-specific neural representations. Furthermore, new findings have established that vestibular signals are selectively combined with extravestibular information at the earliest stages of central vestibular processing in a manner that depends on the current behavioural goal. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the brain mechanisms that ensure accurate perception and behaviour during everyday activities and for our understanding of disorders of vestibular processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen E Cullen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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38
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Mehlman ML, Winter SS, Taube JS. Functional and anatomical relationships between the medial precentral cortex, dorsal striatum, and head direction cell circuitry. II. Neuroanatomical studies. J Neurophysiol 2019; 121:371-395. [PMID: 30427743 PMCID: PMC6397393 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00144.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2018] [Revised: 11/13/2018] [Accepted: 11/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
An animal's directional heading within its environment is encoded by the activity of head direction (HD) cells. In rodents, these neurons are found primarily within the limbic system in the interconnected structures that form the limbic HD circuit. In our accompanying report in this issue, we describe two HD cell populations located outside of this circuit in the medial precentral cortex (PrCM) and dorsal striatum (DS). These extralimbic areas receive their HD signals from the limbic system but do not provide critical input or feedback to limbic HD cells (Mehlman ML, Winter SS, Valerio S, Taube JS. J Neurophysiol 121: 350-370, 2019.). In this report, we complement our previous lesion and recording experiments with a series of neuroanatomical tracing studies in rats designed to examine patterns of connectivity between the PrCM, DS, limbic HD circuit, and related spatial processing circuitry. Retrograde tracing revealed that the DS receives direct input from numerous structures known to contain HD cells and/or other spatially tuned cell types. Importantly, these projections preferentially target and converge within the most medial portion of the DS, the same area in which we previously recorded HD cells. The PrCM receives direct input from a subset of these spatial processing structures. Anterograde tracing identified indirect pathways that could permit the PrCM and DS to convey self-motion information to the limbic HD circuit. These tracing studies reveal the anatomical basis for the functional relationships observed in our lesion and recording experiments. Collectively, these findings expand our understanding of how spatial processing circuitry functionally and anatomically extends beyond the limbic system into the PrCM and DS. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Head direction (HD) cells are located primarily within the limbic system, but small populations of extralimbic HD cells are found in the medial precentral cortex (PrCM) and dorsal striatum (DS). The neuroanatomical tracing experiments reported here explored the pathways capable of transmitting the HD signal to these extralimbic areas. We found that projections arising from numerous spatial processing structures converge within portions of the PrCM and DS that contain HD cells.
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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
| | - Jeffrey S Taube
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College , Hanover, New Hampshire
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39
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Anticipatory Neural Activity Improves the Decoding Accuracy for Dynamic Head-Direction Signals. J Neurosci 2019; 39:2847-2859. [PMID: 30692223 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2605-18.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2018] [Revised: 12/16/2018] [Accepted: 01/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Insects and vertebrates harbor specific neurons that encode the animal's head direction (HD) and provide an internal compass for spatial navigation. Each HD cell fires most strongly in one preferred direction. As the animal turns its head, however, HD cells in rat anterodorsal thalamic nucleus (ADN) and other brain areas fire already before their preferred direction is reached, as if the neurons anticipated the future HD. This phenomenon has been explained at a mechanistic level, but a functional interpretation is still missing. To close this gap, we use a computational approach based on the movement statistics of male rats and a simple model for the neural responses within the ADN HD network. Network activity is read out using population vectors in a biologically plausible manner, so that only past spikes are taken into account. We find that anticipatory firing improves the representation of the present HD by reducing the motion-induced temporal bias inherent in causal decoding. The amount of anticipation observed in ADN enhances the precision of the HD compass read-out by up to 40%. More generally, our theoretical framework predicts that neural integration times not only reflect biophysical constraints, but also the statistics of behaviorally relevant stimuli; in particular, anticipatory tuning should be found wherever neurons encode sensory signals that change gradually in time.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Across different brain regions, populations of noisy neurons encode dynamically changing stimuli. Decoding a time-varying stimulus from the population response involves a trade-off: For short read-out times, stimulus estimates are unreliable as the number of stochastic spikes is small; for long read-outs, estimates are biased because they lag behind the true stimulus. We show that optimal decoding of temporally correlated stimuli not only relies on finding the right read-out time window but requires neurons to anticipate future stimulus values. We apply this general framework to the rodent head-direction system and show that the experimentally observed anticipation of future head directions can be explained at a quantitative level from the neuronal tuning properties, network size, and the animal's head-movement statistics.
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How the Internally Organized Direction Sense Is Used to Navigate. Neuron 2018; 101:285-293.e5. [PMID: 30522821 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.11.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2017] [Revised: 09/12/2018] [Accepted: 11/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Head-direction cells preferentially discharge when the head points in a particular azimuthal direction, are hypothesized to collectively function as a single neural system for a unitary direction sense, and are believed to be essential for navigating extra-personal space by functioning like a compass. We tested these ideas by recording medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) head-direction cells while rats navigated on a familiar, continuously rotating disk that dissociates the environment into two spatial frames: one stationary and one rotating. Head-direction cells degraded directional tuning referenced to either of the externally referenced spatial frames, but firing rates, sub-second cell-pair action potential discharge relationships, and internally referenced directional tuning were preserved. MEC head-direction cell ensemble discharge collectively generates a subjective, internally referenced unitary representation of direction that, unlike a compass, is inconsistently registered to external landmarks during navigation. These findings indicate that MEC-based directional information is subjectively anchored, potentially providing for navigation without a stable externally anchored direction sense.
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Rolls ET, Wirth S. Spatial representations in the primate hippocampus, and their functions in memory and navigation. Prog Neurobiol 2018; 171:90-113. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2018.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2018] [Revised: 09/10/2018] [Accepted: 09/10/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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Kornienko O, Latuske P, Bassler M, Kohler L, Allen K. Non-rhythmic head-direction cells in the parahippocampal region are not constrained by attractor network dynamics. eLife 2018; 7:35949. [PMID: 30222110 PMCID: PMC6158010 DOI: 10.7554/elife.35949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2018] [Accepted: 08/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Computational models postulate that head-direction (HD) cells are part of an attractor network integrating head turns. This network requires inputs from visual landmarks to anchor the HD signal to the external world. We investigated whether information about HD and visual landmarks is integrated in the medial entorhinal cortex and parasubiculum, resulting in neurons expressing a conjunctive code for HD and visual landmarks. We found that parahippocampal HD cells could be divided into two classes based on their theta-rhythmic activity: non-rhythmic and theta-rhythmic HD cells. Manipulations of the visual landmarks caused tuning curve alterations in most HD cells, with the largest visually driven changes observed in non-rhythmic HD cells. Importantly, the tuning modifications of non-rhythmic HD cells were often non-coherent across cells, refuting the notion that attractor-like dynamics control non-rhythmic HD cells. These findings reveal a new population of non-rhythmic HD cells whose malleable organization is controlled by visual landmarks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga Kornienko
- Department of Clinical Neurobiology, Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Patrick Latuske
- Department of Clinical Neurobiology, Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Mathis Bassler
- Department of Clinical Neurobiology, Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Laura Kohler
- Department of Clinical Neurobiology, Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kevin Allen
- Department of Clinical Neurobiology, Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
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Abstract
A key challenge for animals is recognising locations and navigating between them. These capacities are varied: we can remember where our car is parked at the mall, rats are able to remember where their nest location is while foraging for food morsels, and bats are able to fly directly to a favourite fruit tree 20 kilometers from their home cave. These spatial abilities, whether commonplace or remarkable, raise fundamental questions. First, how do animals find their way? Second, how does the brain represent the outside world? In this Primer, we will address both questions from the perspective of rodent cognition and neuroscience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul A Dudchenko
- University of Stirling, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK.
| | - Douglas Wallace
- Northern Illinois University, Department of Psychology, DeKalb, Illinois, 60115, USA
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Green J, Maimon G. Building a heading signal from anatomically defined neuron types in the Drosophila central complex. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2018; 52:156-164. [PMID: 30029143 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2018.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2018] [Revised: 06/06/2018] [Accepted: 06/17/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
A network of a few hundred neurons in the Drosophila central complex carries an estimate of the fly's heading in the world, akin to the mammalian head-direction system. Here we describe how anatomically defined neuronal classes in this network are poised to implement specific sub-processes for building and updating this population-level heading signal. The computations we describe in the fly central complex strongly resemble those posited to exist in the mammalian brain, in computational models for building head-direction signals. By linking circuit anatomy to navigational physiology, the Drosophila central complex should provide a detailed example of how a heading signal is built.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Green
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Ave., Mailbox #294, New York, NY 10065, United States.
| | - Gaby Maimon
- Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Ave., Mailbox #294, New York, NY 10065, United States.
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Coletta S, Zeraati R, Nasr K, Preston-Ferrer P, Burgalossi A. Interspike interval analysis and spikelets in presubicular head-direction cells. J Neurophysiol 2018; 120:564-575. [PMID: 29718804 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00019.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Head-direction (HD) neurons are thought to provide the mammalian brain with an internal sense of direction. These cells, which selectively increase their firing when the animal's head points in a specific direction, use the spike rate to encode HD with a high signal-to-noise ratio. In the present work, we analyzed spike train features of presubicular HD cells recorded juxtacellularly in passively rotated rats. We found that HD neurons could be classified into two groups on the basis of their propensity to fire spikes at short interspike intervals. "Bursty" neurons displayed distinct spike waveforms and were weakly but significantly more modulated by HD compared with "nonbursty" cells. In a subset of HD neurons, we observed the occurrence of spikelets, small-amplitude "spike-like" events, whose HD tuning was highly correlated to that of the co-recorded juxtacellular spikes. Bursty and nonbursty HD cells, as well as spikelets, were also observed in freely moving animals during natural behavior. We speculate that spike bursts and spikelets might contribute to presubicular HD coding by enhancing its accuracy and transmission reliability to downstream targets. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We provide evidence that presubicular head-direction (HD) cells can be classified into two classes (bursty and nonbursty) on the basis of their propensity to fire spikes at short interspike intervals. Bursty cells displayed distinct electrophysiological properties and stronger directional tuning compared with nonbursty neurons. We also provide evidence for the occurrence of spikelets in a subset of HD cells. These electrophysiological features (spike bursts and spikelets) might contribute to the precision and robustness of the presubicular HD code.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Coletta
- Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, International Max Planck Research School , Tübingen , Germany
| | - Roxana Zeraati
- Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, International Max Planck Research School , Tübingen , Germany
| | - Khaled Nasr
- Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, International Max Planck Research School , Tübingen , Germany
| | | | - Andrea Burgalossi
- Werner-Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience , Tübingen , Germany
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Consistency of Spatial Representations in Rat Entorhinal Cortex Predicts Performance in a Reorientation Task. Curr Biol 2017; 27:3658-3665.e4. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.10.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2017] [Revised: 09/17/2017] [Accepted: 10/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Cullen KE, Taube JS. Our sense of direction: progress, controversies and challenges. Nat Neurosci 2017; 20:1465-1473. [PMID: 29073639 PMCID: PMC10278035 DOI: 10.1038/nn.4658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2017] [Accepted: 09/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
In this Perspective, we evaluate current progress in understanding how the brain encodes our sense of direction, within the context of parallel work focused on how early vestibular pathways encode self-motion. In particular, we discuss how these systems work together and provide evidence that they involve common mechanisms. We first consider the classic view of the head direction cell and results of recent experiments in rodents and primates indicating that inputs to these neurons encode multimodal information during self-motion, such as proprioceptive and motor efference copy signals, including gaze-related information. We also consider the paradox that, while the head-direction network is generally assumed to generate a fixed representation of perceived directional heading, this computation would need to be dynamically updated when the relationship between voluntary motor command and its sensory consequences changes. Such situations include navigation in virtual reality and head-restricted conditions, since the natural relationship between visual and extravisual cues is altered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen E Cullen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Jeffrey S Taube
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
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Harland B, Grieves RM, Bett D, Stentiford R, Wood ER, Dudchenko PA. Lesions of the Head Direction Cell System Increase Hippocampal Place Field Repetition. Curr Biol 2017; 27:2706-2712.e2. [PMID: 28867207 PMCID: PMC5607353 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.07.071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2017] [Revised: 07/02/2017] [Accepted: 07/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
A central tenet of systems neuroscience is that the mammalian hippocampus provides a cognitive map of the environment. This view is supported by the finding of place cells, neurons whose firing is tuned to specific locations in an animal's environment, within this brain region. Recent work, however, has shown that these cells repeat their firing fields across visually identical maze compartments [1, 2]. This repetition is not observed if these compartments face different directions, suggesting that place cells use a directional input to differentiate otherwise similar local environments [3, 4]. A clear candidate for this input is the head direction cell system. To test this, we disrupted the head direction cell system by lesioning the lateral mammillary nuclei and then recorded place cells as rats explored multiple, connected compartments, oriented in the same or in different directions. As shown previously, we found that place cells in control animals exhibited repeated fields in compartments arranged in parallel, but not in compartments facing different directions. In contrast, the place cells of animals with lesions of the head direction cell system exhibited repeating fields in both conditions. Thus, directional information provided by the head direction cell system appears essential for the angular disambiguation by place cells of visually identical compartments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce Harland
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK; Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK
| | - Roddy M Grieves
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK; Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK; University College London, Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Experimental Psychology, London, UK
| | - David Bett
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK; Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK
| | - Rachael Stentiford
- Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK
| | - Emma R Wood
- Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK
| | - Paul A Dudchenko
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK; Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK.
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