Updating head direction in a 3D world

Head direction (HD) cells in the rodent brain encode the animal's facing direction ("azimuth") and subserve the sense of direction, needed for navigation and memory. The cells respond to horizontal head rotations ("yaw") but when the animal moves in three dimensions, non-yaw rotations also change the azimuth, which could introduce errors. This project will investigate whether HD cells can accommodate these rotations, and if so, how, by recording HD cells from mice exploring complex 3D space. Using transgenic mutants we will test the hypothesis that non-yaw rotations are processed by the vestibulocerebellum, which prevents error accumulation.