scholarly journals Egocentric boundary vector tuning of the retrosplenial cortex

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. eaaz2322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew S. Alexander ◽  
Lucas C. Carstensen ◽  
James R. Hinman ◽  
Florian Raudies ◽  
G. William Chapman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Retrosplenial Cortex ◽  
Response Property ◽  
Boundary Vector ◽  
Free Exploration ◽  
Multiple Structures ◽  
Hippocampal Theta ◽  
Self Motion ◽  
Specific Orientation ◽  
Allocentric Representations

The retrosplenial cortex is reciprocally connected with multiple structures implicated in spatial cognition, and damage to the region itself produces numerous spatial impairments. Here, we sought to characterize spatial correlates of neurons within the region during free exploration in two-dimensional environments. We report that a large percentage of retrosplenial cortex neurons have spatial receptive fields that are active when environmental boundaries are positioned at a specific orientation and distance relative to the animal itself. We demonstrate that this vector-based location signal is encoded in egocentric coordinates, is localized to the dysgranular retrosplenial subregion, is independent of self-motion, and is context invariant. Further, we identify a subpopulation of neurons with this response property that are synchronized with the hippocampal theta oscillation. Accordingly, the current work identifies a robust egocentric spatial code in retrosplenial cortex that can facilitate spatial coordinate system transformations and support the anchoring, generation, and utilization of allocentric representations.

scholarly journals Egocentric boundary vector tuning of the retrosplenial cortex

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew S. Alexander ◽  
Lucas C. Carstensen ◽  
James R. Hinman ◽  
Florian Raudies ◽  
G. William Chapman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Retrosplenial Cortex ◽  
Response Property ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Boundary Vector ◽  
Free Exploration ◽  
Hippocampal Theta ◽  
Self Motion ◽  
Specific Orientation ◽  
Allocentric Representations

AbstractThe retrosplenial cortex is reciprocally connected with a majority of structures implicated in spatial cognition and damage to the region itself produces numerous spatial impairments. However, in many ways the retrosplenial cortex remains understudied. Here, we sought to characterize spatial correlates of neurons within the region during free exploration in two-dimensional environments. We report that a large percentage of retrosplenial cortex neurons have spatial receptive fields that are active when environmental boundaries are positioned at a specific orientation and distance relative to the animal itself. We demonstrate that this vector-based location signal is encoded in egocentric coordinates, localized to the dysgranular retrosplenial sub-region, independent of self-motion, and context invariant. Further, we identify a sub-population of neurons with this response property that are synchronized with the hippocampal theta oscillation. Accordingly, the current work identifies a robust egocentric spatial code in retrosplenial cortex that can facilitate spatial coordinate system transformations and support the anchoring, generation, and utilization of allocentric representations.

scholarly journals Spatiotemporal Properties of Fast and Slow Neurons in the Pretectal Nucleus Lentiformis Mesencephali in Pigeons

2000 ◽  
Vol 84 (5) ◽  
pp. 2529-2540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas R. W. Wylie ◽  
Nathan A. Crowder
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Frequency ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Sine Wave ◽  
Accessory Optic System ◽  
Stimulus Velocity ◽  
Preferred Direction ◽  
Pretectal Nucleus ◽  
Contralateral Eye ◽  
Sine Wave Gratings ◽  
Self Motion

Neurons in the pretectal nucleus lentiformis mesencephali (LM) are involved in the analysis of optic flow that results from self-motion. Previous studies have shown that LM neurons have large receptive fields in the contralateral eye, are excited in response to largefield stimuli moving in a particular (preferred) direction, and are inhibited in response to motion in the opposite (anti-preferred) direction. We investigated the responses of LM neurons to sine wave gratings of varying spatial and temporal frequency drifting in the preferred and anti-preferred directions. The LM neurons fell into two categories. “Fast” neurons were maximally excited by gratings of low spatial [0.03–0.25 cycles/° (cpd)] and mid-high temporal frequencies (0.5–16 Hz). “Slow” neurons were maximally excited by gratings of high spatial (0.35–2 cpd) and low-mid temporal frequencies (0.125–2 Hz). Of the slow neurons, all but one preferred forward (temporal to nasal) motion. The fast group included neurons that preferred forward, backward, upward, and downward motion. For most cells (81%), the spatial and temporal frequency that elicited maximal excitation to motion in the preferred direction did not coincide with the spatial and temporal frequency that elicited maximal inhibition to gratings moving in the anti-preferred direction. With respect to motion in the anti-preferred direction, a substantial proportion of the LM neurons (32%) showed bi-directional responses. That is, the spatiotemporal plots contained domains of excitation in addition to the region of inhibition. Neurons tuned to stimulus velocity across different spatial frequency were rare (5%), but some neurons (39%) were tuned to temporal frequency. These results are discussed in relation to previous studies of the responses of neurons in the accessory optic system and pretectum to drifting gratings and other largefield stimuli.

scholarly journals Spike interval coding of translatory optic flow and depth from motion in the fly visual system

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kit D. Longden ◽  
Martina Wicklein ◽  
Benjamin J. Hardcastle ◽  
Stephen J. Huston ◽  
Holger G. Krapp
Keyword(s):  
Optic Flow ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Visual Motion ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Spike Burst ◽  
Cluttered Environments ◽  
Single Spike ◽  
Self Motion ◽  
Spike Bursts

SummaryMany animals use the visual motion generated by travelling in a line, the translatory optic flow, to successfully navigate obstacles: near objects appear larger and to move more quickly than distant ones. Flies are experts at navigating cluttered environments, and while their visual processing of rotatory optic flow is understood in exquisite detail, how they process translatory optic flow remains a mystery. Here, we present novel cell types that have motion receptive fields matched to translation self-motion, the vertical translation (VT) cells. One of these, the VT1 cell, encodes forwards sideslip self-motion, and fires action potentials in clusters of spikes, spike bursts. We show that the spike burst coding is size and speed-tuned, and is selectively modulated by parallax motion, the relative motion experienced during translation. These properties are spatially organized, so that the cell is most excited by clutter rather than isolated objects. When the fly is presented with a simulation of flying past an elevated object, the spike burst activity is modulated by the height of the object, and the single spike rate is unaffected. When the moving object alone is experienced, the cell is weakly driven. Meanwhile, the VT2-3 cells have motion receptive fields matched to the lift axis. In conjunction with previously described horizontal cells, the VT cells have the properties required for the fly to successfully navigate clutter and encode its movements along near cardinal axes of thrust, lift and forward sideslip.

scholarly journals A robust receptive field code for optic flow detection and decomposition during self-motion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Zhang ◽  
Ruoyu Huang ◽  
Wiebke Nörenberg ◽  
Aristides Arrenberg
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Optic Flow ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Motion Information ◽  
Fine Scale ◽  
Visually Guided ◽  
Behavioral Experiments ◽  
Linear Filters ◽  
Flow Detection ◽  
Self Motion

The perception of optic flow is essential for any visually guided behavior of a moving animal. To mechanistically predict behavior and understand the emergence of self-motion perception in vertebrate brains, it is essential to systematically characterize the motion receptive fields (RFs) of optic flow processing neurons. Here, we present the fine-scale RFs of thousands of motion-sensitive neurons studied in the diencephalon and the midbrain of zebrafish. We found neurons that serve as linear filters and robustly encode directional and speed information of translation-induced optic flow. These neurons are topographically arranged in pretectum according to translation direction. The unambiguous encoding of translation enables the decomposition of translational and rotational self-motion information from mixed optic flow. In behavioral experiments, we successfully demonstrated the predicted decomposition in the optokinetic and optomotor responses. Together, our study reveals the algorithm and the neural implementation for self-motion estimation in a vertebrate visual system.

scholarly journals Boundary coding in the rat subiculum

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1635) ◽  
pp. 20120514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Stewart ◽  
Ali Jeewajee ◽  
Thomas J. Wills ◽  
Neil Burgess ◽  
Colin Lever
Keyword(s):  
Hippocampal Formation ◽  
External Environment ◽  
Mapping Function ◽  
The Other ◽  
Spatial Mapping ◽  
Testing Environment ◽  
New Class ◽  
Boundary Vector ◽  
Temporal Properties ◽  
Self Motion

The spatial mapping function of the hippocampal formation is likely derived from two sets of information: one based on the external environment and the other based on self-motion. Here, we further characterize ‘boundary vector cells’ (BVCs) in the rat subiculum, which code space relative to one type of cue in the external environment: boundaries. We find that the majority of cells with fields near the perimeter of a walled environment exhibit an additional firing field when an upright barrier is inserted into the walled environment in a manner predicted by the BVC model. We use this property of field repetition as a heuristic measure to define BVCs, and characterize their spatial and temporal properties. In further tests, we find that subicular BVCs typically treat drop edges similarly to walls, including exhibiting field repetition when additional drop-type boundaries are added to the testing environment. In other words, BVCs treat both kinds of edge as environmental boundaries, despite their dissimilar sensory properties. Finally, we also report the existence of ‘boundary-off cells’, a new class of boundary-coding cells. These cells fire everywhere except where a given BVC might fire.

scholarly journals Neural mechanisms of navigation involving interactions of cortical and subcortical structures

2018 ◽  
Vol 119 (6) ◽  
pp. 2007-2029 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Hinman ◽  
Holger Dannenberg ◽  
Andrew S. Alexander ◽  
Michael E. Hasselmo
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Input ◽  
Medial Septum ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Retrosplenial Cortex ◽  
Spatial Behavior ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Spatial Representations ◽  
Subcortical Structures ◽  
Neurophysiological Studies ◽  
Self Motion

Animals must perform spatial navigation for a range of different behaviors, including selection of trajectories toward goal locations and foraging for food sources. To serve this function, a number of different brain regions play a role in coding different dimensions of sensory input important for spatial behavior, including the entorhinal cortex, the retrosplenial cortex, the hippocampus, and the medial septum. This article will review data concerning the coding of the spatial aspects of animal behavior, including location of the animal within an environment, the speed of movement, the trajectory of movement, the direction of the head in the environment, and the position of barriers and objects both relative to the animal’s head direction (egocentric) and relative to the layout of the environment (allocentric). The mechanisms for coding these important spatial representations are not yet fully understood but could involve mechanisms including integration of self-motion information or coding of location based on the angle of sensory features in the environment. We will review available data and theories about the mechanisms for coding of spatial representations. The computation of different aspects of spatial representation from available sensory input requires complex cortical processing mechanisms for transformation from egocentric to allocentric coordinates that will only be understood through a combination of neurophysiological studies and computational modeling.

scholarly journals BIFURCATING NEURONS IN THE ANTERIOR THALAMIC NUCLEI

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Pei ◽  
S (Yee T) Tasananukorn ◽  
M Wolff ◽  
JC Dalrymple-Alford
Keyword(s):  
Hippocampal Formation ◽  
Nodal Point ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Retrosplenial Cortex ◽  
Thalamic Nuclei ◽  
Neural Ensembles ◽  
Multiple Structures ◽  
Anterior Thalamic Nuclei ◽  
New Perspective

AbstractThe anterior thalamic nuclei (ATN) form a nodal point within a hippocampal-cingulate-diencephalic memory system. ATN projections to different brain structures are conventionally viewed as distinct, but ATN neurons may send collaterals to multiple structures. The anteromedial subregion (AM) is the primary source of efferents to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Using a dual-retrograde neurotracer strategy, we discovered bifurcating AM neurons for tracers placed in the mPFC when paired with other regions. A semi-quantitative analysis found a high proportion of AM neurons (~36%) showed collateral projections when the mPFC was paired with dorsal subiculum (dSub); 20% were evident for mPFC paired with caudal retrosplenial cortex (cRSC); and 6% was found for mPFC and ventral hippocampal formation (vHF). About 10% of bifurcating AM neurons was also identified when the mPFC was not included, that is, for cRSC with dSub, and cRSC with vHF. Similar percentages of bifurcating neurons were also found within the anterior region of the adjacent nucleus reuniens (Re). The high frequency of bifurcating neurons suggests a new perspective for ATN function. These neurons would facilitate direct coordination among distal neural ensembles to support episodic memory and may explain why the ATN is a critical region for diencephalic amnesia.

scholarly journals Tracking the Emergence of Location-based Spatial Representations in Human Scene-Selective Cortex

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Sam C. Berens ◽  
Bárður H. Joensen ◽  
Aidan J. Horner
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Models ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Retrosplenial Cortex ◽  
Spatial Representations ◽  
Parahippocampal Cortex ◽  
Heading Direction ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Video Condition ◽  
Allocentric Representations

Scene-selective regions of the human brain form allocentric representations of locations in our environment. These representations are independent of heading direction and allow us to know where we are regardless of our direction of travel. However, we know little about how these location-based representations are formed. Using fMRI representational similarity analysis and linear mixed models, we tracked the emergence of location-based representations in scene-selective brain regions. We estimated patterns of activity for two distinct scenes, taken before and after participants learnt they were from the same location. During a learning phase, we presented participants with two types of panoramic videos: (1) an overlap video condition displaying two distinct scenes (0° and 180°) from the same location and (2) a no-overlap video displaying two distinct scenes from different locations (which served as a control condition). In the parahippocampal cortex (PHC) and retrosplenial cortex (RSC), representations of scenes from the same location became more similar to each other only after they had been shown in the overlap condition, suggesting the emergence of viewpoint-independent location-based representations. Whereas these representations emerged in the PHC regardless of task performance, RSC representations only emerged for locations where participants could behaviorally identify the two scenes as belonging to the same location. The results suggest that we can track the emergence of location-based representations in the PHC and RSC in a single fMRI experiment. Further, they support computational models that propose the RSC plays a key role in transforming viewpoint-independent representations into behaviorally relevant representations of specific viewpoints.

Receptive-field and axonal properties of neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of awake unparalyzed rabbits

1985 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 168-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. A. Swadlow ◽  
T. G. Weyand
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Optic Tract ◽  
Response Duration ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Hippocampal Theta Activity ◽  
Receptive Field Properties ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Hippocampal Theta

The intrinsic stability of the rabbit eye was exploited to enable receptive-field analysis of LGNd neurons and optic tract axons in the awake, unparalyzed state. We found eye position to remain within a range of less than 1.0 degrees for periods of 4-5 min, and in some cases for periods in excess of 10 min. Such stability is comparable to that seen in awake monkeys that have been trained to fixate. Receptive fields of dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd) neurons were analyzed, and approximately 84% were concentrically organized. This is a higher value than previously reported in this species. In addition, the receptive-field centers of concentric cells were much smaller than those previously reported (mean diameter = 2.5 degrees). Most remaining neurons in the LGNd were either directionally selective (6.5%) or motion/uniform (6.5%). Concentric cells were classified as sustained or transient based on response duration to standing contrast. In the LGNd the receptive fields of sustained concentric cells were predominantly near the horizontal meridian, within the representation of the visual streak, while the receptive-field positions of transient concentric cells were more prevalent in the upper visual field. In the optic tract the receptive-field positions of both sustained and transient cells were more evenly distributed than was seen in the LGNd. Sustained and transient concentric cells in LGNd showed primarily nonlinear spatial summation. The receptive-field properties of LGNd neurons were related to geniculocortical antidromic latency. Most LGNd neurons of all receptive-field classes projected axons to the visual cortex. Thus, any intrinsic interneurons in the rabbit LGNd may have receptive-field properties similar to those of some principal neurons. There was significant overlap in the distribution of antidromic latencies in neurons of different receptive-field classes. Concentric sustained neurons, however, did conduct somewhat more slowly than did concentric transient neurons. Nonvisual sensory stimuli that resulted in EEG arousal (hippocampal theta activity) had a profound effect on the response duration of most (28/32) sustained concentric neurons. For these cells, the sustained response to standing contrast began to diminish and sometimes disappeared after 2-15 s. However, arousing stimuli that resulted in hippocampal theta activity reestablished the sustained response. Such arousing stimuli usually had little or no effect on the discharge of the cell in the absence of visual stimuli. Arousing stimuli had no effect on optic tract axons with sustained concentric receptive-field properties.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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