A Map-like Micro-Organization of Grid Cells in the Medial Entorhinal Cortex
Abstract
How the topography of neural circuits relates to their function remains unclear. Although topographic maps exist for sensory and motor variables, they are rarely observed for cognitive variables. Using calcium imaging during virtual navigation, we investigated the relationship between the anatomical organization and functional properties of grid cells, which represent a cognitive code for location during navigation. We found a substantial degree of grid cell micro-organization in mouse medial entorhinal cortex: grid cells and modules all clustered anatomically. Within a module, the layout of grid cells was a noisy two-dimensional lattice in which the anatomical distribution of grid cells largely matched their spatial tuning phases. This micro-arrangement of phases demonstrates the existence of a topographical map encoding a cognitive variable in rodents. It contributes to a foundation for evaluating circuit models of the grid cell network and is consistent with continuous attractor models as the mechanism of grid formation.
Additional Information
© 2018 Elsevier Inc. Received 7 February 2018, Revised 31 July 2018, Accepted 29 August 2018, Available online 27 September 2018. Published: September 27, 2018; corrected online October 5, 2018. We thank Yao Lu, Alex Riordan, Dr. Rong Gong, and Dr. Ben Scott for comments on the manuscript, and Dr. Gary Laevsky for help with confocal microscopy. This work was supported by the NIH (grant 5R37NS081242 to D.W.T.) and the Simons Foundation (Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain [SCGB]). Author Contributions: Y.G. and D.W.T. conceived the project and wrote the manuscript with contributions from I.R.F., C.D., and S.L. Y.G. performed two-photon experiments. Y.G. and S.L. applied the folding triangle analysis and global lattice fit developed by S.L. Y.G. performed all other analyses. A.A.K. performed tetrode experiments. Y.G. and C.D. developed the brute-force grid cell fitter. J.L.G. developed ROI extraction methods. K.Y. provided phase analysis advice and MATLAB code for calculating grid scores. The authors declare no competing interests.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 90743
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20181108-090635057
- 5R37NS081242
- NIH
- Simons Foundation
- Created
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2018-11-08Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field