Maryam Najafian Jazi, Adrian Tymorek, Ting Yung Yen, Felix Jose Kavarayil, Moritz Stingl, Sherman Richard Chau, Benay Baskurt, Celia Garcia Vilela, Kevin Allen. Hippocampal firing fields anchored to a moving object predict homing direction during path-integration-based behavior. bioRxiv 2022.09.30.510268; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.09.30.510268

Abstract
“Homing based on path integration (H-PI) is a form of navigation in which an animal uses self-motion cues to keep track of its position and return to a starting point. Despite evidence for a role of the hippocampus in H-PI, the firing patterns of hippocampal neurons associated with homing performance are unknown. Here we developed a behavioral task for mice to characterize spatially selective cells during H-PI. The task required a mouse to find a variably placed lever on an arena before returning to its home base. H-PI was assessed in complete darkness. Recordings from CA1 pyramidal neurons in mice showed that several firing fields were anchored to the lever position. The spatial stability of lever-anchored fields was reduced during trials with lower homing accuracy, and the activity of a subset of lever-anchored firing fields predicted homing direction. These results demonstrate how neurons with object-anchored firing fields contribute to navigation.”

Maryam Najafian Jazi, Adrian Tymorek, Ting Yung Yen, Felix Jose Kavarayil, Moritz Stingl, Sherman Richard Chau, Benay Baskurt, Celia Garcia Vilela, Kevin Allen. Hippocampal firing fields anchored to a moving object predict homing direction during path-integration-based behavior. bioRxiv 2022.09.30.510268; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.09.30.510268