Grid cells are modulated by local head direction

Klara Gerlei, Jessica Passlack, Ian Hawes, Brianna Vandrey, Holly Stevens, Ioannis Papastathopoulos and Matthew F. Nolan ()
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Klara Gerlei: University of Edinburgh
Jessica Passlack: University of Edinburgh
Ian Hawes: University of Edinburgh
Brianna Vandrey: University of Edinburgh
Holly Stevens: University of Edinburgh
Ioannis Papastathopoulos: University of Edinburgh
Matthew F. Nolan: University of Edinburgh

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Grid and head direction codes represent cognitive spaces for navigation and memory. Pure grid cells generate grid codes that have been assumed to be independent of head direction, whereas conjunctive cells generate grid representations that are tuned to a single head direction. Here, we demonstrate that pure grid cells also encode head direction, but through distinct mechanisms. We show that individual firing fields of pure grid cells are tuned to multiple head directions, with the preferred sets of directions differing between fields. This local directional modulation is not predicted by previous continuous attractor or oscillatory interference models of grid firing but is accounted for by models in which pure grid cells integrate inputs from co-aligned conjunctive cells with firing rates that differ between their fields. We suggest that local directional signals from grid cells may contribute to downstream computations by decorrelating different points of view from the same location.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17500-1

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