Grid cell symmetry is shaped by environmental geometry.

ABSTRACT: Grid cells represent an animal's location by firing in multiple fields arranged in a striking hexagonal array. Such an impressive and constant regularity prompted suggestions that grid cells represent a universal and environmental-invariant metric for navigation. Originally the properties of grid patterns were believed to be independent of the shape of the environment and this notion has dominated almost all theoretical grid cell models. However, several studies indicate that environmental boundaries influence grid firing, though the strength, nature and longevity of this effect is unclear. Here we show that grid orientation, scale, symmetry and homogeneity are strongly and permanently affected by environmental geometry. We found that grid patterns orient to the walls of polarized enclosur

SUBMITTER: Krupic J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4576734 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature