Brain Mechanisms Underlying the Tracking and Localization of Dynamic Cues
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Brain mechanisms underlying the tracking and localization of dynamic cues Diego López Pigozzi ADVERTIMENT. La consulta d’aquesta tesi queda condicionada a l’acceptació de les següents condicions d'ús: La difusió d’aquesta tesi per mitjà del servei TDX (www.tdx.cat) i a través del Dipòsit Digital de la UB (diposit.ub.edu) ha estat autoritzada pels titulars dels drets de propietat intel·lectual únicament per a usos privats emmarcats en activitats d’investigació i docència. No s’autoritza la seva reproducció amb finalitats de lucre ni la seva difusió i posada a disposició des d’un lloc aliè al servei TDX ni al Dipòsit Digital de la UB. No s’autoritza la presentació del seu contingut en una finestra o marc aliè a TDX o al Dipòsit Digital de la UB (framing). Aquesta reserva de drets afecta tant al resum de presentació de la tesi com als seus continguts. En la utilització o cita de parts de la tesi és obligat indicar el nom de la persona autora. ADVERTENCIA. 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On having consulted this thesis you’re accepting the following use conditions: Spreading this thesis by the TDX (www.tdx.cat) service and by the UB Digital Repository (diposit.ub.edu) has been authorized by the titular of the intellectual property rights only for private uses placed in investigation and teaching activities. Reproduction with lucrative aims is not authorized nor its spreading and availability from a site foreign to the TDX service or to the UB Digital Repository. Introducing its content in a window or frame foreign to the TDX service or to the UB Digital Repository is not authorized (framing). Those rights affect to the presentation summary of the thesis as well as to its contents. In the using or citation of parts of the thesis it’s obliged to indicate the name of the author. Universitat de Barcelona Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer Programa de Doctorado en Biomedicina Brain mechanisms underlying the tracking and localization of dynamic cues Doctoral dissertation by Diego López Pigozzi PhD. Supervisor: Dra. María Victoria Sánchez-Vives Área: Neurociencia Grupo: Neurociencia de sistemas Línea de investigación: Neurofisiología y computación en sistemas corticales 1 "Sólo el que sabe es libre, y más libre el que más sabe. Sólo la cultura da libertad. No proclaméis la libertad de volar, sino dad alas; No la de pensar, sino dad pensamiento. La libertad que hay que dar al pueblo es la cultura." -Miguel de Unamuno- 2 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to say how grateful I am to Dr María Victoria Sanchez-Vives for giving me the chance to do this project. Without her confidence, support and understanding this work would have not been possible. I have really appreciated sharing with her the last four years, which has given me the possibility of learning from her the importance of a constant dedication, a lucid mind and, in general, a positive mood and character in science. Thanks, I really appreciate it. Next, I would like to thank a very important group of beings who have been involved in this work. I know this is not a common acknowledgement but, as I learnt from another person to whom I will refer soon, without them the present study would have never reached the objectives posed and therefore, out of respect, we always name them. They are Aurora, Borrasca, Ciclón, Destello, Eclipse, Fuego, Huracán, Incendio, Jungla, Krater, Lluvia, Mar, Nieve and Ocaso. Thank you! It is also important for me to quote the institutions that have funded this research project and made it possible. In my case I would like to mention the EU Commission, in particular the funding of the Synthetic Forager project, the MICINN (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation) and the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan government). My gratitude for their support to this and many other projects. There are two persons that I would like to especially thank and who were actively involved in the work developed while, at the same time, became close and loved friends for me: Lorena Pérez Méndez and Thomas Gener. Without your sympathy, support, patience and motivation, the road to achieve my goals not only would have been harder but also very less pleasant. Therefore, a special thanks to you! One usual acknowledgement goes to the people one has met along the years of study in a particular professional environment. In this sense, I need to say that, every time I think about it, I am impressed about the people who have shared the lab with me. It really moves me. From the first time that I arrived to the lab of Dr. Sanchez-Vives, and I spent 4 maybe just one or two hours visiting it, I left the place with a deep feeling of friendship; everybody welcomed me warmly and I was, and I am still today, very grateful for that. Therefore, these lines are dedicated to Ramón Reig, Dani Jercog, Dani Pérez, María P. Zabalza, Vanessa Fernández, Thomas Gener and Juan Abolafia. Thank you very much for your nice welcome and for your continuous help. During the development of the thesis new people arrived to the lab and each new incorporation was a chance to enrich the, already, fantastic group. I would like to say that each of them has been important for me, that they have shared many things with me and that I am very grateful for this. Starting from the moments in which we found together the way to overcome with humour all kind of issues that the research work gave us, and arriving to our never-ending scientific/philosophical talks during the meals, coffee breaks and time spent out of the lab. I am especially grateful for that, all of you are unique! Thanks to Thomas, María, Marcel, Lorena, Salva, Leandro, Laura, Julita, Lucila, Enrique, Núria, Bea, Julia and Patricia. You made everything happier. Finally, I have to say that I would like to thank so many other people -I owe you a lot my friends!- that I would need pages and pages naming each of you and explaining the important things you have given me. Therefore, let me just say: “Friends, almost brothers in many cases, you are an important part of me and I hope that I am also a part of you. We have walked together through marvellous experiences and I will never forget you!!!” And now, really ending these emotive lines, I would like to express to my family my infinite gratitude. You have taught me, you have shaped me, you have encouraged me and finally helped me in the road that I chose to follow, always believing in my skills and supporting me with your love. ¡Gracias! Grazie! ¡Ezkerrik azko! In the way to accomplish any wish, the things do not appear from the nothing. It is not only ourselves who finally overcome and achieve the posed goals; we always walk on giant’s shoulders that first flattened the field in which we later chose our road. As a grain of sand of a really bigger mountain I dedicate this work to you. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. 6 ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................................... 8 LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ 10 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 12 RESUMEN ..................................................................................................................... 14 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 16 State of the art (Historical and Philosophical review) ................................................ 16 1.1. Category of space in the brain ............................................................................. 21 1.1.1. How space is encoded by the brain. ............................................................. 21 1.1.2. The hippocampus in rodents: a mammal model of spatial navigation. ........ 24 1.1.3. Space representation across other species. ................................................... 43 1.2. Dynamic cues ...................................................................................................... 46 1.3 Single unit’s recordings (Introduction to the method).......................................... 49 2. HYPOTHESIS & OBJECTIVES ............................................................................... 52 2.1. Hypothesis ........................................................................................................... 52 2.2. Objectives