Francesca SARGOLINI, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, Aix-Marseille Université
Gaël MALLERET et l’équipe FORGETTING du CRNL
Summary - Grid cells are spatially selective neurons in entorhinal and para-hippocampal cortices, that fire in a hexagonal grid-like pattern covering the entire surface explored by the animals. It has been suggested that their activity provides the brain with an invariant metric map that allows rats (and more in general mammals) to navigate in space using mainly self-movements. However, recent studies show that grid cell activity is also modulated by environmental (allocentric) cues, a result that is consistent with the fact that entorhinal and para-hippocampal lesions impair different spatial abilities.
In this conference I will present recent data showing that grid cells compute information necessary for both self-motion-based and allocentric navigation. Moreover, they suggest that grid cells may be implicated in organizing experience according to a specific temporal structure.
This function is a key aspect that may reconcile the two opposite views on the role of grid cells in spatial navigation.
CRNL - CH Le Vinatier - Bâtiment 462 Neurocampus Michel Jouvet - Salle F28, 95 Boulevard Pinel, Bron