van der Meer Matthijs A A, Richmond Zoe, Braga Rodrigo M, Wood Emma R, Dudchenko Paul A
Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, Neuroinformatics Doctoral Training Centre, University of Edinburgh.
Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, University of Edinburgh.
Behav Neurosci. 2010 Feb;124(1):164-169. doi: 10.1037/a0018446.
Path integration, the ability to maintain a representation of location and direction on the basis of internal cues, is thought to be important for navigation and the learning of spatial relationships. Representations of location and direction in the brain, such as head direction cells, grid cells, and place cells in the limbic system, are thought to underlie navigation by path integration. While this idea is generally consistent with lesion studies, the relationship between such neural activity and behavior has not been studied on a task where animals demonstrably use a path integration strategy. Here we report the development of such a task in rats: by slowly rotating rats before their return to a trial-unique home base, we could show subjects relied on internal cues only to navigate. To illustrate how this task can be combined with recording, we show examples of simultaneously recorded head direction cells in which neural activity is closely related to rats' homing direction. These results support the notion that rats can navigate by path integration, that this ability depends on head direction cells, and suggest a convenient behavioral paradigm for investigating the neural basis of navigation.
路径整合，即基于内部线索维持位置和方向表征的能力，被认为对导航和空间关系学习很重要。大脑中位置和方向的表征，如边缘系统中的头部方向细胞、网格细胞和位置细胞，被认为是通过路径整合进行导航的基础。虽然这一观点总体上与损伤研究一致，但这种神经活动与行为之间的关系尚未在动物明显使用路径整合策略的任务中进行研究。在此，我们报告了在大鼠中开发的这样一项任务：通过在大鼠返回独特的试验起始点之前缓慢旋转它们，我们可以证明实验对象仅依靠内部线索进行导航。为了说明这项任务如何与记录相结合，我们展示了同时记录的头部方向细胞的示例，其中神经活动与大鼠的归巢方向密切相关。这些结果支持了大鼠可以通过路径整合进行导航的观点，这种能力依赖于头部方向细胞，并提出了一种方便的行为范式来研究导航的神经基础。
