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Preparation of Parasagittal Slices for the Investigation of Dorsal-ventral Organization of the Rodent Medial Entorhinal Cortex
Published on: March 28, 2012
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Speed cells in the medial entorhinal cortex
Emilio Kropff1, James E Carmichael2, May-Britt Moser2
11] Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience and Centre for Neural Computation, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Olav Kyrres gate 9, MTFS, 7491 Trondheim, Norway [2] Leloir Institute, IIBBA - CONICET, Buenos Aires, C1405BWE, Argentina.
Nature
|July 16, 2015
Summary
Scientists discovered specialized "speed cells" in the brain
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Spatial Navigation
Background:
- Medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) neurons, including grid cells, form hexagonal firing patterns crucial for spatial representation.
- Grid cell activity translates with animal movement, requiring instantaneous speed information.
- A dedicated neural signal for running speed within the entorhinal cortex remained unidentified.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and characterize a neural population encoding instantaneous running speed in the medial entorhinal cortex.
- To investigate the properties of these speed-encoding neurons and their relationship to other entorhinal cell types.
Main Methods:
- Electrophysiological recordings in rodents.
- Analysis of neuronal firing rates in relation to running speed and animal behavior.
- Comparison of firing characteristics with grid, head-direction, and border cells.
Main Results:
- A distinct population of entorhinal neurons, termed 'speed cells', was identified.
- These speed cells exhibit a context-invariant, positive, and linear response to running speed.
- Speed cells share a prospective temporal bias (50-80 ms) with grid cells.
Conclusions:
- Speed cells represent a dedicated neural mechanism for encoding running speed in the medial entorhinal cortex.
- This population is distinct from other known entorhinal cell types like grid cells.
- Speed cells are a key component in the brain's dynamic self-location representation.
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