Perineuronal nets stabilize the grid cell network

Ane Charlotte Christensen, Kristian Kinden Lensjø, Mikkel Elle Lepperød, Svenn-Arne Dragly, Halvard Sutterud, Jan Sigurd Blackstad, Marianne Fyhn and Torkel Hafting ()
Additional contact information
Ane Charlotte Christensen: University of Oslo
Kristian Kinden Lensjø: University of Oslo
Mikkel Elle Lepperød: University of Oslo
Svenn-Arne Dragly: University of Oslo
Halvard Sutterud: University of Oslo
Jan Sigurd Blackstad: University of Oslo
Marianne Fyhn: University of Oslo
Torkel Hafting: University of Oslo

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Abstract Grid cells are part of a widespread network which supports navigation and spatial memory. Stable grid patterns appear late in development, in concert with extracellular matrix aggregates termed perineuronal nets (PNNs) that condense around inhibitory neurons. It has been suggested that PNNs stabilize synaptic connections and long-term memories, but their role in the grid cell network remains elusive. We show that removal of PNNs leads to lower inhibitory spiking activity, and reduces grid cells’ ability to create stable representations of a novel environment. Furthermore, in animals with disrupted PNNs, exposure to a novel arena corrupted the spatiotemporal relationships within grid cell modules, and the stored representations of a familiar arena. Finally, we show that PNN removal in entorhinal cortex distorted spatial representations in downstream hippocampal neurons. Together this work suggests that PNNs provide a key stabilizing element for the grid cell network.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-20241-w Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-20241-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20241-w

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().