Department of Neurobiology, Rappaport Research Institute and Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa 3525428, Israel.
Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Jan 31;120(5):e2212418120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2212418120. Epub 2023 Jan 24.
The elucidation of spatial coding in the hippocampus requires exploring diverse animal species. While robust place-cells are found in the mammalian hippocampus, much less is known about spatial coding in the hippocampus of birds. Here we used a wireless-electrophysiology system to record single neurons in the hippocampus and other two dorsal pallial structures from freely flying barn owls (), a central-place nocturnal predator species with excellent navigational abilities. The owl's 3D position was monitored while it flew between perches. We found place cells-neurons that fired when the owl flew through a spatially restricted region in at least one direction-as well as neurons that encoded the direction of flight, and neurons that represented the owl's perching position between flights. Many neurons encoded combinations of position, direction, and perching. Spatial coding was maintained stable and invariant to lighting conditions. Place cells were observed in owls performing two different types of flying tasks, highlighting the generality of the result. Place coding was found in the anterior hippocampus and in the posterior part of the hyperpallium apicale, and to a lesser extent in the visual Wulst. The finding of place-cells in flying owls suggests commonalities in spatial coding across mammals and birds.
阐明海马体的空间编码需要探索多种动物物种。虽然在哺乳动物的海马体中发现了强大的位置细胞，但关于鸟类海马体的空间编码知之甚少。在这里，我们使用无线电生理学系统记录了自由飞翔的仓鸮（）的海马体和其他两个背侧脑皮层结构中的单个神经元，仓鸮是一种具有出色导航能力的中央栖息地夜行动物捕食者。当猫头鹰在栖木之间飞行时，监测其 3D 位置。我们发现了位置细胞——当猫头鹰在至少一个方向上飞过一个空间受限的区域时会发射的神经元——以及编码飞行方向的神经元，以及在飞行之间代表猫头鹰栖息位置的神经元。许多神经元编码位置、方向和栖息的组合。空间编码保持稳定且不受光照条件的影响。在执行两种不同类型飞行任务的猫头鹰中观察到了位置细胞，突出了结果的普遍性。在海马体的前部和高级翼状皮层的后部以及视觉 Wulst 中发现了位置细胞，程度较小。在飞行的猫头鹰中发现位置细胞表明，在哺乳动物和鸟类中，空间编码存在共同性。
