Optic Flow Stimuli Update Anterodorsal Thalamus Head Direction Neuronal Activity in Rats

Arleo, Angelo; Déjean, Cyril; Allegraud, Pierre; Khamassi, Mehdi; Zugaro, Michaël; Wiener, Sidney I.

doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2698-13.2013

Cited by 26 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…This raises the question of how to reconcile the apparent discrepancy between the preservation of head direction tuning seen here and the reduced sensitivity to motion signals observed previously (Shin, ; Tai et al, ; Newman et al, ). One solution may be that the previously observed reductions in sensitivity result from reduced of vestibular input whereas the intact head direction tuning observed here was preserved through the use of visual cues (Blair and Sharp, ; Taube, ; Arleo et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Grid cell spatial tuning reduced following systemic muscarinic receptor blockade

2014

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Grid cells of the medial entorhinal cortex exhibit a periodic and stable pattern of spatial tuning that may reflect the output of a path integration system. This grid pattern has been hypothesized to serve as a spatial coordinate system for navigation and memory function. The mechanisms underlying the generation of this characteristic tuning pattern remain poorly understood. Systemic administration of the muscarinic antagonist scopolamine flattens the typically positive correlation between running speed and entorhinal theta frequency in rats. The loss of this neural correlate of velocity, an important signal for the calculation of path integration, raises the question of what influence scopolamine has on the grid cell tuning as a read out of the path integration system. To test this, the spatial tuning properties of grid cells were compared before and after systemic administration of scopolamine as rats completed laps on a circle track for food rewards. The results show that the spatial tuning of the grid cells was reduced following scopolamine administration. The tuning of head direction cells, in contrast, was not reduced by scopolamine. This is the first report to demonstrate a link between cholinergic function and grid cell tuning. This work suggests that the loss of tuning in the grid cell network may underlie the navigational disorientation observed in Alzheimer's patients and elderly individuals with reduced cholinergic tone.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Grid cell spatial tuning reduced following systemic muscarinic receptor blockade

2014

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“…Although our participants' heads were immobilized during scanning, vestibular inputs they experienced during the pre‐scan task with the VR head‐mounted display might have been reinstated by visual cues during scanning and contributed to HD encoding, as suggested by a previous study (Shine et al, ). Furthermore, optic flow during scanning could have stimulated the vestibular nuclei (Glasauer, ), and indeed HD cells in the thalamus of rats have been found to be modulated by pure optic flow without visual landmarks (Arleo et al, ). Vertical and horizontal optokinetic responses are known to activate both common and unique vestibular nuclei (Bense et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Encoding of 3D head direction information in the human brain

Kim

Maguire

2018

Hippocampus

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Head direction cells are critical for navigation because they convey information about which direction an animal is facing within an environment. To date, most studies on head direction encoding have been conducted on a horizontal two‐dimensional (2D) plane, and little is known about how three‐dimensional (3D) direction information is encoded in the brain despite humans and other animals living in a 3D world. Here, we investigated head direction encoding in the human brain while participants moved within a virtual 3D “spaceship” environment. Movement was not constrained to planes and instead participants could move along all three axes in volumetric space as if in zero gravity. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) multivoxel pattern similarity analysis, we found evidence that the thalamus, particularly the anterior portion, and the subiculum encoded the horizontal component of 3D head direction (azimuth). In contrast, the retrosplenial cortex was significantly more sensitive to the vertical direction (pitch) than to the azimuth. Our results also indicated that vertical direction information in the retrosplenial cortex was significantly correlated with behavioral performance during a direction judgment task. Our findings represent the first evidence showing that the “classic” head direction system that has been identified on a horizontal 2D plane also seems to encode vertical and horizontal heading in 3D space in the human brain.

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“…Although our participants' heads were immobilised during scanning, vestibular inputs they experienced during the pre-scan task with the VR head-mounted display might have been reinstated by visual cues during scanning and contributed to HD encoding, as suggested by a previous study (Shine et al 2016). Furthermore, optic flow during scanning could have stimulated the vestibular nuclei (Glasauer, 2005), and indeed HD cells in the thalamus of rats have been found to be modulated by pure optic flow without visual landmarks (Arleo et al, 2013). Vertical and horizontal optokinetic responses are known to activate both common and unique vestibular nuclei (Bense et al, 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Encoding of 3D head direction information in the human brain

Kim

Maguire

2018

Preprint

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Head direction cells are critical for navigation because they convey information about which direction an animal is facing within an environment. To date, most studies on head direction encoding have been conducted on a horizontal two-dimensional (2D) plane, and little is known about how three-dimensional (3D) direction information is encoded in the brain despite humans and other animals living in a 3D world. Here, we investigated head direction encoding in the human brain while participants moved within a virtual 3D “spaceship” environment. Movement was not constrained to planes and instead participants could move along all three axes in volumetric space as if in zero gravity. Using functional MRI multivoxel pattern similarity analysis, we found evidence that the thalamus, particularly the anterior portion, and the subiculum encoded the horizontal component of 3D head direction (azimuth). In contrast, the retrosplenial cortex was significantly more sensitive to the vertical direction (pitch) than to the azimuth. Our results also indicated that vertical direction information in the retrosplenial cortex was significantly correlated with behavioural performance during a direction judgment task. Our findings represent the first evidence showing that the ‘classic’ head direction system that has been identified on a horizontal 2D plane also seems to encode vertical and horizontal heading in 3D space in the human brain.

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Optic Flow Stimuli Update Anterodorsal Thalamus Head Direction Neuronal Activity in Rats

Cited by 26 publications

References 35 publications

Grid cell spatial tuning reduced following systemic muscarinic receptor blockade

Grid cell spatial tuning reduced following systemic muscarinic receptor blockade

Encoding of 3D head direction information in the human brain

Encoding of 3D head direction information in the human brain

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