A place with a view: A first‐person perspective in the hippocampal memory space
Abstract
How do rodents' and primates' differences in visual perception impact the way the brain constructs egocentric and allocentric reference frames to represent stimuli in space? Strikingly, there are important similarities in the egocentric spatial reference frames through which cortical regions represent objects with respect to an animal's head or body in rodents and primates. These egocentric representations are suitable for navigation across species. However, while the rodent hippocampus represents allocentric place, I draw on several pieces of evidence suggesting that an egocentric reference frame is paramount in the primate hippocampus, and relates to the first‐person perspective characteristic of a primate's field of view. I further discuss the link between an allocentric reference frame and a conceptual frame to suggest that an allocentric reference frame is a semantic construct in primates. Finally, I discuss how views probe memory recall and support prospective coding, and as they are based on a first‐person perspective, are a powerful tool for probing episodic memory across species.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Studies have repeatedly shown that egocentric perspective has a beneficial effect on subsequent memory performance.
“Studies have repeatedly shown that egocentric perspective has a beneficial effect on subsequent memory performance33–35.”
From Long-term Memory Reorganization of Navigational Episodes (2026) · cites this paper as [34]
Cites
The hippocampus as a cognitive map
Passingham, R. E. (1979) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/0306-4522(79)90015-0 · Cited by 5,128 · see citing works
Episodic memory: from mind to brain
Tulving, E. (2002) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135114 · Cited by 4,950 · see citing works
Ungerleider, L. G. (1982) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 4,531 · see citing works
Ingle, D., Goodale, M. A., & Mansfield, R. J. W. (1982) · The MIT Press eBooks · Cited by 4,118 · see citing works
(1995) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.32-5931 · Cited by 2,337 · see citing works
Human gaze control during real-world scene perception
Henderson, J. (2003) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2003.09.006 · Cited by 1,409 · see citing works
Unilateral Neglect of Representational Space
Bisiach, E., & Luzzatti, C. (1978) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/s0010-9452(78)80016-1 · Cited by 1,390 · see citing works
Deconstructing episodic memory with construction
Hassabis, D., & Maguire, E. A. (2007) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2007.05.001 · Cited by 1,229 · see citing works
Representation of Geometric Borders in the Entorhinal Cortex
Solstad, T., Boccara, C. N., Kropff, E., Moser, M.-B., & Moser, E. I. (2008) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1166466 · Cited by 1,213 · see citing works
Remembering the past and imagining the future: A neural model of spatial memory and imagery.
Byrne, P., Becker, S., & Burgess, N. (2007) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.114.2.340 · Cited by 1,011 · see citing works
Neural ensembles in CA3 transiently encode paths forward of the animal at a decision point
Johnson, A., & Redish, A. D. (2007) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3761-07.2007 · Cited by 1,003 · see citing works
The hippocampus as a predictive map
Stachenfeld, K. L., Botvinick, M. M., & Gershman, S. J. (2017) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.4650 · Cited by 1,000 · see citing works
Deciphering The Hippocampal Polyglot: the Hippocampus as a Path Integration System
McNaughton, B. L., Barnes, C. A., Gerrard, J. L., Gothard, K. M., Jung, M. W., Knierim, J. J., Kudrimoti, H. S., Qin, Y., Skaggs, W. E., Suster, M. S., et al. (1996) · Journal of Experimental Biology · doi:10.1242/jeb.199.1.173 · Cited by 900 · see citing works
Topographical disorientation: a synthesis and taxonomy
Aguirre, G. K. (1999) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/122.9.1613 · Cited by 772 · see citing works
Spatial invariance of visual receptive fields in parietal cortex neurons
Duhamel, J., Bremmer, F., Hamed, S. B., & Graf, W. M. (1997) · Nature · doi:10.1038/39865 · Cited by 635 · see citing works
Anterior hippocampus: the anatomy of perception, imagination and episodic memory
Zeidman, P., & Maguire, E. A. (2016) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn.2015.24 · Cited by 542 · see citing works
Experience-dependent, asymmetric expansion of hippocampal place fields
Mehta, M. R., Barnes, C. A., & McNaughton, B. L. (1997) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.94.16.8918 · Cited by 528 · see citing works
Concept cells: the building blocks of declarative memory functions
Quiroga, R. Q. (2012) · Nature reviews. Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn3251 · Cited by 472 · see citing works
A contextual binding theory of episodic memory: systems consolidation reconsidered
Yonelinas, A. P., Ranganath, C., Ekstrom, A. D., & Wiltgen, B. J. (2019) · Nature reviews. Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/s41583-019-0150-4 · Cited by 447 · see citing works
Memory for places learned long ago is intact after hippocampal damage
Teng, E., & Squire, L. R. (1999) · Nature · doi:10.1038/23276 · Cited by 372 · see citing works
Single Neurons in the Monkey Hippocampus and Learning of New Associations
Wirth, S., Yanike, M., Frank, L. M., Smith, A. C., Brown, E. N., & SUZUKI, W. A. (2003) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1084324 · Cited by 356 · see citing works
Self-citationThe primate fovea: Structure, function and development
Bringmann, A., Syrbe, S., Görner, K., Kacza, J., Francke, M., Wiedemann, P., & Reichenbach, A. (2018) · Progress in Retinal and Eye Research · doi:10.1016/j.preteyeres.2018.03.006 · Cited by 355 · see citing works
Visual-vestibular interactive responses in the macaque ventral intraparietal area (VIP)
Bremmer, F., Klam, F., Duhamel, J., Ben Hamed, S., & Graf, W. (2002) · European Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1046/j.1460-9568.2002.02206.x · Cited by 331 · see citing works
Bartsch, T., Döhring, J., Rohr, A., Jansen, O., & Deuschl, G. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1110266108 · Cited by 325 · see citing works
A model of multiplicative neural responses in parietal cortex.
Salinas, E., & Abbott, L. F. (1996) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.93.21.11956 · Cited by 319 · see citing works
Viewpoint Dependence in Scene Recognition
Diwadkar, V. A., & McNamara, T. P. (1997) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1997.tb00442.x · Cited by 312 · see citing works
Visual Acuity and the Evolution of Signals
Caves, E. M., Brandley, N. C., & Johnsen, S. (2018) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2018.03.001 · Cited by 298 · see citing works
Prediction, sequences and the hippocampus
Lisman, J. E., & Redish, A. D. (2009) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0316 · Cited by 285 · see citing works
Egocentric coding of external items in the lateral entorhinal cortex
Wang, C., Chen, X., Lee, H., Deshmukh, S. S., Yoganarasimha, D., Savelli, F., & Knierim, J. J. (2018) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aau4940 · Cited by 276 · see citing works
Oscillatory activity in the monkey hippocampus during visual exploration and memory formation
Jutras, M. J., Fries, P., & Buffalo, E. A. (2013) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1302351110 · Cited by 274 · see citing works
Ekstrom, A. D., Arnold, A. E. G. F., & Iaria, G. (2014) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00803 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
Ben Hamed, S., Duhamel, J.-R., Bremmer, F., & Graf, W. (2001) · Experimental Brain Research · doi:10.1007/s002210100785 · Cited by 242 · see citing works
Heading encoding in the macaque ventral intraparietal area (VIP)
Bremmer, F., Duhamel, J., Ben Hamed, S., & Graf, W. (2002) · European Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1046/j.1460-9568.2002.02207.x · Cited by 232 · see citing works
Georges‐François, P. (1999) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/9.3.197 · Cited by 226 · see citing works
Egocentric boundary vector tuning of the retrosplenial cortex
Alexander, A. S., Carstensen, L. C., Hinman, J. R., Raudies, F., Chapman, G. W., & Hasselmo, M. E. (2020) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz2322 · Cited by 197 · see citing works
Feigenbaum, J., & Rolls, E. T. (1991) · Psychobiology · doi:10.1007/bf03337953 · Cited by 193 · see citing works
Dynamics of gaze control during prey capture in freely moving mice
Michaiel, A. M., Abe, E. T. T., & Niell, C. M. (2020) · eLife · doi:10.7554/elife.57458 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Spatial modulation of hippocampal activity in freely moving macaques
Mao, D., Avila, E., Caziot, B., Laurens, J., Dickman, J. D., & Angelaki, D. E. (2021) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2021.09.032 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Wirth, S., Baraduc, P., Planté, A., Pinède, S., & Duhamel, J.-R. (2017) · PLOS Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2001045 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Self-citationGetting directions from the hippocampus: The neural connection between looking and memory
Meister, M. L. R., & Buffalo, E. A. (2015) · Neurobiology of Learning and Memory · doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2015.12.004 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Efficient cortical coding of 3D posture in freely behaving rats
Mimica, B., Dunn, B. A., Tombaz, T., Bojja, V. P. T. N. C. S., & Whitlock, J. R. (2018) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aau2013 · Cited by 124 · see citing works
Schema cells in the macaque hippocampus
Baraduc, P., Duhamel, J.-R., & Wirth, S. (2019) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aav5404 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Self-citationFilimon, F. (2015) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2015.00648 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Neuronal representation of environmental boundaries in egocentric coordinates
Hinman, J. R., Chapman, G. W., & Hasselmo, M. E. (2019) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-019-10722-y · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Shrager, Y., Kirwan, C. B., & Squire, L. R. (2008) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0805414105 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Control of attention and gaze in complex environments
Jovancevic, J., Sullivan, B. T., & Hayhoe, M. (2006) · Journal of Vision · doi:10.1167/6.12.9 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Gulli, R. A., Duong, L., Corrigan, B. W., Doucet, G., Williams, S., Fusi, S., & Martínez-Trujillo, J. (2019) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/s41593-019-0548-3 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Gofman, X., Tocker, G., Weiss, S., Boccara, C. N., Lu, L., Moser, M., Moser, E. I., Morris, G., & Derdikman, D. (2019) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.007 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Spatial encoding in primate hippocampus during free navigation
Courellis, H. S., Nummela, S. U., Metke, M., Diehl, G. W., Bussell, R., Cauwenberghs, G., & Miller, C. T. (2019) · PLoS Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000546 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Spatial updating relies on an egocentric representation of space: Effects of the number of objects
Wang, R. F., Crowell, J. A., Simons, D. J., Irwin, D. E., Kramer, A. F., Ambinder, M. S., Thomas, L. E., Gosney, J. L., Levinthal, B. R., & Hsieh, B. (2006) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/bf03193844 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Rolls, E. T. (2022) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.23467 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Precision, binding, and the hippocampus: Precisely what are we talking about?
Ekstrom, A. D., & Yonelinas, A. P. (2020) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107341 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Heading direction with respect to a reference point modulates place-cell activity
Jercog, P. E., Ahmadian, Y., Woodruff, C. M., Deb-Sen, R., Abbott, L. F., & Kandel, E. R. (2019) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-019-10139-7 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Single-Neuron Representations of Spatial Targets in Humans
Tsitsiklis, M., Miller, J. F., Qasim, S. E., Inman, C. S., Gross, R. E., Willie, J. T., Smith, E. H., Sheth, S. A., Schevon, C. A., Sperling, M. R., et al. (2020) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.11.048 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Stringer, S. M., Rolls, E. T., & Trappenberg, T. P. (2003) · Neural Networks · doi:10.1016/s0893-6080(03)00210-7 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Moving bar of light evokes vectorial spatial selectivity in the immobile rat hippocampus
Purandare, C., Dhingra, S., Rios, R., Vuong, C., To, T., Hachisuka, A., Choudhary, K., & Mehta, M. R. (2022) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04404-x · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Alexander, A. S., Robinson, J. C., Stern, C. E., & Hasselmo, M. E. (2023) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.23513 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
de Araújo, I. E., Rolls, E. T., & Stringer, S. M. (2001) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.1085 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Sliwa, J., Planté, A., Duhamel, J., & Wirth, S. (2014) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhu257 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Self-citationThe integration of spatial information across different viewpoints
Meilinger, T., Berthoz, A., & Wiener, J. M. (2011) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/s13421-011-0088-x · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Adaptive integration of self-motion and goals in posterior parietal cortex
Alexander, A. S., Tung, J. C., Chapman, G. W., Conner, A. M., Shelley, L. E., Hasselmo, M. E., & Nitz, D. A. (2022) · Cell Reports · doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110504 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Three-Dimensional Optokinetic Eye Movements in the C57BL/6J Mouse
van Alphen, B., Winkelman, B. H. J., & Frens, M. A. (2010) · Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science · doi:10.1167/iovs.09-4072 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Quiroga, R. Q. (2023) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.23527 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Donoghue, T., Cao, R., Han, C. Z., Holman, C. M., Brandmeir, N. J., Wang, S., & Jacobs, J. (2023) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.23539 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Retinotopic organization of extrastriate cortex in the owl monkey—dorsal and lateral areas
Sereno, M. I., MCDONALD, C. T., & Allman, J. M. (2015) · Visual Neuroscience · doi:10.1017/s0952523815000206 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
View cells in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of macaques during virtual navigation
Corrigan, B. W., Gulli, R. A., Doucet, G., Mahmoudian, B., Abbass, M., Roussy, M. P., Luna, R., Sachs, A. J., & Martínez-Trujillo, J. (2023) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.23534 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Computational cross‐species views of the hippocampal formation
Zhu, S. L., Lakshminarasimhan, K. J., & Angelaki, D. E. (2023) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.23535 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Significance of visual scene‐based learning in the hippocampal systems across mammalian species
Lee, S., Shin, J., & Lee, I. (2022) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.23483 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Yang, C., Chen, H., & Naya, Y. (2023) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.23501 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
A model for transforming egocentric views into goal‐directed behavior
LaChance, P. A., & Taube, J. S. (2023) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.23510 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Visuomotor control in mice and primates
Tehovnik, E. J., Froudarakis, E., Scala, F., Smirnakis, S. M., Patel, S. S., & Tolias, A. S. (2021) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.08.009 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Searching for the neural correlates of human intelligence
Quiroga, R. Q. (2020) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.03.004 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Mega-scale movie-fields in the mouse visuo-hippocampal networkPreprint
Purandare, C., & Mehta, M. R. (2023) · eLife · doi:10.7554/elife.85069.1 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Piza, D. B., Corrigan, B. W., Gulli, R. A., Carmo, S. D., Cuello, A. C., Muller, L., & Martínez-Trujillo, J. (2024) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-024-48374-2 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Hippocampal spatial view cells, place cells, and concept cells: View representations
Rolls, E. T. (2023) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.23536 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
A Theory and Model of Scene Representations With Hippocampal Spatial View Cells
Rolls, E. T. (2025) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.70013 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Tuena, C., Serino, S., Stramba-Badiale, C., Biondi, D., Goulene, K., Stramba-Badiale, M., & Riva, G. (2026) · JMIR Aging · doi:10.2196/79224 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Li, A., Chen, H., & Naya, Y. (2024) · Progress in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2024.102670 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Simultaneous transformations of view and place coding across reference frames in the macaque brain
Huang, Y., Liu, A., Xu, X. X., Du, K., & Mao, D. (2026) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2530923123 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Rolls, E. T., & Wirth, S. (2023) · Hippocampus · doi:10.1002/hipo.23538 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationLong-term Memory Reorganization of Navigational Episodes
Iggena, D., Schmelter, T., Maier, P. M., Reguieg, K., Finke, C., Hildebrand, K., & Ploner, C. J. (2026) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-026-02472-x
Los orígenes del NO-DO y la conformación de la propaganda franquista
Tranche, R. R. (2001) · Cuadernos de la Academia
Composing egocentric and allocentric maps for flexible navigation
Shani, D., & Dayan, P. (2026) · PLoS Computational Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013905
Coexisting but dissociable place and spatial view codes in the primate hippocampusPreprint
Shin, S.-H., Lim, H., Lee, S., Seol, J.-M., Lee, B., Lee, C.-H., Naya, Y., Lee, J., & Lee, I. (2026) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.64898/2026.07.20.739519
- Authors
- Wirth, S.
- Affiliations
- Lyon 1 Université (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Wirth, Sylvia
- ORCID
- Wirth, Sylvia
- Venue
- Hippocampus
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2023-04-03
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 658-666
- ISSN
- 1050-9631 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-1063
- OpenAlex
- W4362520643
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 73
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 1.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Hippocampus (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR‐17‐CE37‐0015)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Keywords
- first-person perspective, egocentric reference frame, allocentric reference frame, place memory, visual perception, conceptual frames, semantic memory, memory retrieval, episodic memory, spatial representation
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Hippocampus, Memory, Primates, Prospective Studies, Space Perception
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
