University College London, Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Experimental Psychology, London, UK.
Nat Commun. 2020 Feb 7;11(1):789. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-14611-7.
Place cells are spatially modulated neurons found in the hippocampus that underlie spatial memory and navigation: how these neurons represent 3D space is crucial for a full understanding of spatial cognition. We wirelessly recorded place cells in rats as they explored a cubic lattice climbing frame which could be aligned or tilted with respect to gravity. Place cells represented the entire volume of the mazes: their activity tended to be aligned with the maze axes, and when it was more difficult for the animals to move vertically the cells represented space less accurately and less stably. These results demonstrate that even surface-dwelling animals represent 3D space and suggests there is a fundamental relationship between environment structure, gravity, movement and spatial memory.
位置细胞是在海马体中发现的空间调制神经元，它们是空间记忆和导航的基础：这些神经元如何表示 3D 空间对于全面理解空间认知至关重要。当大鼠在立方格攀爬架上探索时，我们通过无线方式记录位置细胞，该攀爬架可以相对于重力进行对齐或倾斜。位置细胞表示整个迷宫的体积：它们的活动往往与迷宫轴对齐，当动物更难以垂直移动时，细胞表示空间的准确性和稳定性降低。这些结果表明，即使是在地面上生活的动物也能表示 3D 空间，并表明环境结构、重力、运动和空间记忆之间存在着基本关系。
