The head-direction signal is critical for navigation requiring a cognitive map but not for learning a spatial habit.

ABSTRACT: Head-direction (HD) cells fire as a function of an animal's directional heading in the horizontal plane during two-dimensional navigational tasks [1]. The information from HD cells is used with place and grid cells to form a spatial representation (cognitive map) of the environment [2, 3]. Previous studies have shown that when rats are inverted (upside down), they have difficulty learning a task that requires them to find an escape hole from one of four entry points but that they can learn it when released from one or two start points [4]. Previous reports also indicate that the HD signal is disrupted when a rat is oriented upside down [5, 6]. Here we monitored HD cell activity in the two-entry-point version of the inverted task and when the rats were released from a novel start point. We

SUBMITTER: Gibson B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4106916 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature