Microstructure of a spatial map in the entorhinal cortex

Torkel Hafting, Marianne Fyhn, Sturla Molden, May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser ()
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Torkel Hafting: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Marianne Fyhn: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Sturla Molden: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
May-Britt Moser: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Edvard I. Moser: Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Nature, 2005, vol. 436, issue 7052, 801-806

Abstract: Abstract The ability to find one's way depends on neural algorithms that integrate information about place, distance and direction, but the implementation of these operations in cortical microcircuits is poorly understood. Here we show that the dorsocaudal medial entorhinal cortex (dMEC) contains a directionally oriented, topographically organized neural map of the spatial environment. Its key unit is the ‘grid cell’, which is activated whenever the animal's position coincides with any vertex of a regular grid of equilateral triangles spanning the surface of the environment. Grids of neighbouring cells share a common orientation and spacing, but their vertex locations (their phases) differ. The spacing and size of individual fields increase from dorsal to ventral dMEC. The map is anchored to external landmarks, but persists in their absence, suggesting that grid cells may be part of a generalized, path-integration-based map of the spatial environment.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03721

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