How does the hippocampus of flying owls encode 3D space?

Arpit Agarwal, Ayelet Sarel, Dori Derdikman, Nachum Ulanovsky, Yoram Gutfreund. Spatial coding in the hippocampus of flying owls. bioRxiv 2021.10.24.465553; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.24.465553

Abstract
“The elucidation of spatial coding in the hippocampus requires exploring diverse animal species. While robust place-cells are found in the mammalian hippocampus, much less is known about spatial coding in the hippocampus of birds – and nothing is known about avian spatial representation during flight. Here we used a wireless-electrophysiology system to record single neurons in the hippocampus and related pallial structures from freely flying barn owls (Tyto alba) – a central-place nocturnal predator species with excellent navigational abilities. The owl 3D position was monitored while it flew back and forth between two perches. We found place cells – neurons that robustly represented the owls location during flight, and its flight-direction – as well as neurons that coded the owls perching position between flights. Spatial coding was invariant to changes in lighting conditions and to the position of a salient object in the room. Place cells were found in the anterior hippocampus and in the adjacent posterior hyperpallium apicale, and to a much lesser extent in the visual Wulst (visual-cortex homologue). The finding of place-cells in flying owls suggests commonalities in spatial coding across a variety of species – including rodents, bats and owls.”

Arpit Agarwal, Ayelet Sarel, Dori Derdikman, Nachum Ulanovsky, Yoram Gutfreund. Spatial coding in the hippocampus of flying owls. bioRxiv 2021.10.24.465553; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.24.465553