Uncovering the underlying mechanism of the hippocampal-parahippocampal spatial map

Uncovering the underlying mechanism of the hippocampal-parahippocampal spatial map: How is geometric information about the environment represented by grid cells to enable spatial navigation?

The aim of the project is to determine the underlying mechanism of the spatial hippocampal-parahippocampal cognitive map. We have previously shown that the geometry of the enclosure effects grid cell symmetry. However, the underlying mechanism of these transformations is not clear. We and others proposed computational models none which can fully account for the observed experimental data. Here we will further develop and test the computational models to determine the relationship between grid cells, place cells, boundary and head direction cells to introduce a unified theoretical framework of the spatial cognitive map and define the functional roles each functional cell type plays in navigation.