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The neurobiology of mammalian navigation

Poulter, Steven; Hartley, Tom; Lever, Colin

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Authors

Tom Hartley



Abstract

Mammals have evolved specialized brain systems to support efficient navigation within diverse habitats and over varied distances, but while navigational strategies and sensory mechanisms vary across species, core spatial components appear to be widely shared. This review presents common elements found in mammalian spatial mapping systems, focusing on the cells in the hippocampal formation representing orientational and locational spatial information, and ‘core’ mammalian hippocampal circuitry. Mammalian spatial mapping systems make use of both allothetic cues (space-defining cues in the external environment) and idiothetic cues (cues derived from self-motion). As examples of each cue type, we discuss: environmental boundaries, which control both orientational and locational neuronal activity and behaviour; and ‘path integration’, a process that allows the estimation of linear translation from velocity signals, thought to depend upon grid cells in the entorhinal cortex. Building cognitive maps entails sampling environments: we consider how the mapping system controls exploration to acquire spatial information, and how exploratory strategies may integrate idiothetic with allothetic information. We discuss how ‘replay’ may act to consolidate spatial maps, and simulate trajectories to aid navigational planning. Finally, we discuss grid cell models of vector navigation.

Citation

Poulter, S., Hartley, T., & Lever, C. (2018). The neurobiology of mammalian navigation. Current Biology, 28(17), R1023-R1042. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.05.050

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Sep 10, 2018
Publication Date Sep 10, 2018
Deposit Date May 16, 2018
Publicly Available Date Sep 20, 2018
Journal Current Biology
Print ISSN 0960-9822
Electronic ISSN 1879-0445
Publisher Cell Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 28
Issue 17
Pages R1023-R1042
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.05.050
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1330693

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