The entorhinal spatial map integrates visual identity information of landmarks

Landmarks guide navigation by providing information through their location and identity. The medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) is well known for representing landmark location, but whether it also encodes landmark identity remains unclear. Here we show, using two-photon calcium imaging of MEC neurons in mice navigating multiple virtual environments, that a population of neurons known as cue cells encodes landmark identity. Cue cells respond selectively to individual landmarks and produce more distinct activity patterns for visually disparate landmarks than for identical ones. Identity encoding is modulated by the spatial shift of cue cell activity relative to landmark location and is context dependent, changing across environments, but remaining stable within the same environment despite repeated experience. In contrast, cue cells' representation of landmark location changes with experience. Grid cells, another major MEC cell type, more strongly represent landmark location, but only weakly encode identity. These findings suggest that the MEC integrates both the location and identity of landmarks to support navigation.