Space in the brain: cells, circuits, codes and cognition A theme issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B based on a Theo Murphy Meeting held at The Royal Society at Chicheley Hall, home of the Kavli Royal Society International Centre, Buckinghamshire on 01-03 May 2013. Edited by Tom Hartley, Colin Lever, Neil Burgess and John O’Keefe February 05 2014; 369 (1635) Online date: 23rd December 2013 http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/site/2014/space.xhtml Contact: Tom Hartley – [email protected] How do we know where we are? How do we find our way? Why do we sometimes get lost? Neuroscientific research has revealed brain cells in the hippocampal formation that provide an exquisite representation of an animal or human being’s current location and heading. This “cognitive map” allows us to find our way around and provides the basis for lasting memories. This Theme Issue illustrates this exceptionally integrative branch of neuroscience, in which we join the dots, from molecules to cells, to complex behaviour and human cognition. It brings together the world leading experts in this area to integrate advances in optogenetics, virtual-reality, inducible transgenics, neuroimaging and computational neuroscience to define the neural mechanisms of navigation, with implications extending to behavioural genetics, robotics and medicine. This issue is based on a Theo Murphy international scientific meeting held at The Royal Society at Chicheley Hall, home of the Kavli Royal Society International Centre, Buckinghamshire on 01-03 May 2013. More information and the speaker list can be found at http://royalsociety.org/events/2013/brain-circuits-cognition/ Dedication: Robert U. Muller (1942–2013) URL after publication: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rstb.2013.0618 by O’Keefe, John Introduction: Space in the brain: how the hippocampal formation supports spatial cognition URL after publication: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rstb.2012.0510 by Hartley, Tom; Lever, Colin; Burgess, Neil; O'Keefe, John Introduces a special issue on "Space in the Brain". How do we know where we are? How do we find our way? Why do we sometimes get lost? Neuroscientific research has revealed brain cells in the hippocampal formation that provide an exquisite representation of an animal or human being’s current location and heading. This “cognitive map” allows us to find our way around and provides the basis for lasting memories. We review the very latest findings which illustrate an exceptionally integrative branch of neuroscience in which we join the dots, from molecules to cells, to complex behaviour and human cognition. Contact: Dr Tom Hartley, University of York, [email protected], 441904322903 Architecture of spatial circuits in the hippocampal region URL after publication: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rstb.2012.0515 by Witter, Menno; Canto, Cathrin; Couey, Jonathan; Koganezawa, Noriko; O'Reilly, Kally The hippocampal region is a part of the brain that is crucially involved in memory processes, including those used to navigate in space. The hippocampal region contains several neuron types that show distinct spatial firing patterns. The region is also known for its diversity in neural circuits and many have attempted to causally relate network architecture to functional outcome. In this review the architecture of local networks will be explored and we will describe how they may interact within the context of an overarching navigation circuit, aiming to provide directions for future research. Contact: Prof. Menno Witter, NTNU, [email protected], +47 73598249 Functional connectivity of the entorhinal-hippocampal space circuit URL after publication: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rstb.2012.0516 [OPEN ACCESS] by Zhang, Sheng-Jia; Ye, Jing; Couey, Jonathan; Witter, Menno; Moser, Edvard; Moser, May-Britt The mammalian space circuit is known to contain several functionally specialized cell types, such as place cells in the hippocampus and grid cells, head-direction cells and border cells in the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC). The interaction between the entorhinal and hippocampal spatial representations is poorly understood, however. The present paper shows how new transgenic methods can be used to determine how cell types of the MEC are connected to place cells of the hippocampus. Contact: Prof. May-Britt Moser, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, [email protected], 73598277 The development of spatial behaviour and the hippocampal neural representation of space URL after publication: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rstb.2013.0409 [OPEN ACCESS] by Wills, Thomas; Muessig, Laurenz; Cacucci, Francesca The hippocampus (a brain structure buried within our temporal lobes) is important for remembering places and founding our way around. A long tradition of research has uncovered the neural underpinnings of its cognitive function: neurons that encode the organism’s position, direction and distance travelled. More recently, researchers have started to address the question of how and when these spatial neural maps are built during the development of the brain. These studies promise to answer the long standing question of whether spatial concepts are learnt through experiencing spatial relations or whether each organism inherits them for free, through its evolutionary history. Contact: Dr Thomas Wills, University College London, [email protected] Functional correlates of the lateral and medial entorhinal cortex: objects, path integration, and local-global reference frames URL after publication: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rstb.2013.0369 by Knierim, James; Neunuebel, Joshua; Deshmukh, Sachin Our memories of our past experiences rely on a brain region called the hippocampus. This region is thought to combine a signal about "where we were" with a signal about "what happened there" in order to lay down the memory in a way that it can be later recalled as a conscious recollection. We identify these two components of memory with the two brain regions that provide the major input to the hippocampus. Contact: Dr James Knierim, Johns Hopkins University, [email protected] Independence of landmark and self-motion guided navigation: a different role for grid cells URL after publication: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rstb.2013.0370 by Poucet, Bruno; Sargolini, Francesca; Song, Eun; Hangya, Balazs; Fox, Steven; Muller, Robert U. Note: Robert U. Muller died in September 2013. We present a modified theory of navigation by rodents in which information obtained from landmarks is processed independently of information obtained from the animal’s self-motion. In this theory, “grid cells” (characterized by regular arrays of active regions) are updated from place cells in the light. Conversely, in the dark, grid cells are driven by self-motion cues and are used in lieu of landmark signals to help estimate the animal’s location. Intuitively, in the dark, the grid cells allow the animal and its place cells to calculate what it should be seeing, given the best available guess of its location. Contact: Dr Steven Fox, SUNY Downstate, [email protected] Weighted cue integration in the rodent head direction system URL after publication: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rstb.2012.0512 [OPEN ACCESS] by Knight, Rebecca; Piette, Caitlin; Page, Hector; Walters, Daniel; Marozzi, Elizabeth; Nardini, Marko; Stringer, Simon; Jeffery, Kathryn How does an animal know which way it is facing? Here, we show that the brain finds a compromise between its previous internal sense of direction and the current direction indicated by newly visible familiar landmarks. This surprising finding may reflect a means of learning about the direction and reliability of landmarks. We show how the mechanism underlying this compromise process might work, and suggest it might also apply to other senses. Contact: Dr Kathryn Jeffery, UCL, [email protected] A theoretical account of cue averaging in the rodent head direction system URL after publication: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rstb.2013.0283 [OPEN ACCESS] by Page, Hector; Walters, Daniel; Knight, Rebecca; Piette, Caitlin; Jeffery, Kathryn; Stringer, Simon This paper explores how information from different sources, vision and head rotation, influences the brain’s tracking of head direction, a crucial navigational sub-process. This is an example of sensory integration, which is a fundamental aspect of cognition. We explore this in situations where these signals contradict one another, and suggest that, in order to accurately track head direction, these signals are combined on the basis of how much they differ and their perceived reliability. We use computer simulations based directly on data recorded from the rat brain. This is an interdisciplinary collaboration within Neuroscience, showing the strength of such collaborations. Contact: Mr Hector Page, University of Oxford, [email protected] Theta phase precession of grid and place cell firing in open environments URL after publication: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rstb.2012.0532 [OPEN ACCESS] by Jeewajee, Ali; Barry, Caswell; Douchamps, Vincent; Manson, Daniel; Lever, Colin; Burgess, Neil Neurons in the brains of foraging rodents indicates the animal's spatial location by both the rate at which they emit electrical