Fischler-Ruiz Walter, Clark David G, Joshi Narendra R, Devi-Chou Virginia, Kitch Lacey, Schnitzer Mark, Abbott L F, Axel Richard
Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain and Behavior Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027 USA.
James H. Clark Center for Biomedical Engineering & Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305 USA; CNC Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305 USA.
Neuron. 2021 Dec 15;109(24):4036-4049.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.09.055. Epub 2021 Oct 27.
The convergence of internal path integration and external sensory landmarks generates a cognitive spatial map in the hippocampus. We studied how localized odor cues are recognized as landmarks by recording the activity of neurons in CA1 during a virtual navigation task. We found that odor cues enriched place cell representations, dramatically improving navigation. Presentation of the same odor at different locations generated distinct place cell representations. An odor cue at a proximal location enhanced the local place cell density and also led to the formation of place cells beyond the cue. This resulted in the recognition of a second, more distal odor cue as a distinct landmark, suggesting an iterative mechanism for extending spatial representations into unknown territory. Our results establish that odors can serve as landmarks, motivating a model in which path integration and odor landmarks interact sequentially and iteratively to generate cognitive spatial maps over long distances.
内部路径整合与外部感官地标相结合，在海马体中生成认知空间地图。我们通过在虚拟导航任务中记录CA1区神经元的活动，研究了局部气味线索是如何被识别为地标的。我们发现气味线索丰富了位置细胞的表征，显著改善了导航。在不同位置呈现相同的气味会产生不同的位置细胞表征。近端位置的气味线索增加了局部位置细胞的密度，还导致了线索之外位置细胞的形成。这使得第二个更远端的气味线索被识别为一个独特的地标，表明存在一种将空间表征扩展到未知区域的迭代机制。我们的研究结果表明，气味可以作为地标，这促使我们提出一个模型，即路径整合和气味地标依次迭代相互作用，以生成远距离的认知空间地图。
