A goal direction signal in the human entorhinal/subicular region.

ABSTRACT: Navigating to a safe place, such as a home or nest, is a fundamental behavior for all complex animals. Determining the direction to such goals is a crucial first step in navigation. Surprisingly, little is known about how or where in the brain this "goal direction signal" is represented. In mammals, "head-direction cells" are thought to support this process, but despite 30 years of research, no evidence for a goal direction representation has been reported. Here, we used fMRI to record neural activity while participants made goal direction judgments based on a previously learned virtual environment. We applied multivoxel pattern analysis to these data and found that the human entorhinal/subicular region contains a neural representation of intended goal direction. Furthermore, the neural pa

SUBMITTER: Chadwick MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4291144 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature