Differential influences of environment and self-motion on place and grid cell firing

Place and grid cells in the hippocampal formation provide foundational representations of environmental location, and potentially of locations within conceptual spaces. Some accounts predict that environmental sensory information and self-motion are encoded in complementary representations, while other models suggest that both features combine to produce a single coherent representation. Here, we use virtual reality to dissociate visual environmental from physical motion inputs, while recording place and grid cells in mice navigating virtual open arenas. Place cell firing patterns predominantly reflect visual inputs, while grid cell activity reflects a greater influence of physical motion. Thus, even when…

• WT
  Wellcome Trust
• EC
  European Commission

  Awards: 720270, H2020, 785907
• CS
  China Scholarship Council
• H2
  Horizon 2020 Framework Programme

  Awards: 720270, 785907
• BA
  Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

  Awards: 785907, BB/R009872/1