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Related Experiment Videos

Allocentric spatial referencing of neuronal activity in macaque posterior cingulate cortex.

Heather L Dean1, Michael L Platt

  • 1Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|January 27, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Neurons in the posterior cingulate cortex (CGp) use an allocentric frame of reference, meaning they map visual space relative to the external environment, not just the eyes or head.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Visuospatial Processing
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

  • The posterior cingulate cortex (CGp) is involved in visuospatial transformations.
  • Understanding the reference frame (retinocentric, head-centered, or allocentric) of CGp neuronal activity is crucial for mapping spatial cognition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if neuronal responses in the posterior cingulate cortex (CGp) are anchored to the eyes, head, or an external (allocentric) frame of reference.
  • To investigate the spatial referencing mechanisms underlying visuospatial transformations in the CGp.

Main Methods:

  • Recorded single neuronal activity in the CGp of monkeys (Macaca mulatta) during delayed-saccade tasks.
  • Manipulated eye position and whole-body orientation relative to visual stimuli to differentiate spatial reference frames.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Analyzed neuronal tuning curves plotted against eye-, head-, and room-centered coordinates.

    • Main Results:

    • Most CGp neurons showed tuning curves that aligned better with display (external) coordinates than eye-centered coordinates, suggesting a nonretinocentric frame.
    • Further experiments indicated that CGp neuronal activity was better described by room-centered (allocentric) coordinates than monkey-centered coordinates after body rotation.

    Conclusions:

    • A significant population of posterior cingulate cortex neurons encodes visuospatial information in an allocentric frame of reference.
    • These findings suggest the CGp plays a key role in representing the external world independently of the observer's immediate orientation.