Targeted Activation of Hippocampal Place Cells Drives Memory-Guided Spatial Behavior
Open accessAbstract
The hippocampus is crucial for spatial navigation and episodic memory formation. Hippocampal place cells exhibit spatially selective activity within an environment and have been proposed to form the neural basis of a cognitive map of space that supports these mnemonic functions. However, the direct influence of place cell activity on spatial navigation behavior has not yet been demonstrated. Using an 'all-optical' combination of simultaneous two-photon calcium imaging and two-photon optogenetics, we identified and selectively activated place cells that encoded behaviorally relevant locations in a virtual reality environment. Targeted stimulation of a small number of place cells was sufficient to bias the behavior of animals during a spatial memory task, providing causal evidence that hippocampal place cells actively support spatial navigation and memory.
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Place cells encode the animal's position in an environment and, more generally, events of episodic experience, and have been causally linked to memory functions.
“These neurons encode the animal’s position in an environment1 and, more generally, events of episodic experience2–4 and have been causally linked to memory functions5–7.”
From Place and behavioral modulation of hippocampal neurons during immobility (2026) · cites this paper as [5]
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References 107 · Cited by 281
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Gallistel C.R. Learning, Development, and Conceptual Change. The Organization of Learning 1990 The MIT Press
- Authors
- Robinson, N. T. M., Descamps, L. A. L., Russell, L. E., Buchholz, M. O., Bicknell, B. A., Antonov, G. K., Lau, J. Y. N., Nutbrown, R., Schmidt-Hieber, C., & Häusser, M.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Robinson, Nick T.M.
- Häusser, Michael
- ORCID
- Venue
- Cell
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-12
- Volume
- 183
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1586-1599.e10
- ISSN
- 0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7754708
- OpenAlex
- W3095668735
- Cited by
- 281
- References
- 107
- Citations by year
- 2026: 36 · 2025: 53 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 44 · 2022: 62 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 3
- FWCI
- 19.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- erratum (2020-12-23)
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cell (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- The HKU Scholars Hub (University of Hong Kong) (submittedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- Gatsby Charitable Foundation
- Wellcome Trust
- Medical Research Council
- European Research Council
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
- Keywords
- place cells, spatial navigation, spatial memory, cognitive maps, virtual reality, two-photon calcium imaging, memory-guided behavior, episodic memory
- MeSH terms
- Place Cells, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Hippocampus, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Neurons, Reward, Running, Spatial Behavior, Photons, Opsins, Optogenetics, Spatial Memory, Spatial Navigation
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