Egocentric and allocentric representations of space in the rodent brain
Open accessAbstract
Spatial signals are prevalent within the hippocampus and its neighboring regions. It is generally accepted that these signals are defined with respect to the external world (i.e., a world-centered, or allocentric, frame of reference). Recently, evidence of egocentric processing (i.e., self-centered, defined relative to the subject) in the extended hippocampal system has accumulated. These results support the idea that egocentric sensory information, derived from primary sensory cortical areas, may be transformed to allocentric representations that interact with the allocentric hippocampal system. We propose a framework to explain the implications of the egocentric-allocentric transformations to the functions of the medial temporal lobe memory system.
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Egocentric spatial representations are found mostly in regions upstream of the hippocampal-entorhinal allocentric representations, with some overlaps (Wang et al., 2020).
“Egocentric spatial representations are found mostly in regions upstream of the hippocampal–entorhinal allocentric representations (e.g., primary sensory cortex), with some overlaps (e.g. in the hippocampus and lateral entorhinal cortex) (Wang et al., 2020).”
From Does viewing a top-down map facilitate spatial learning from navigation in a virtual environment? (2026) · cites this paper as Wang et al., 2020
Many vectorial codes exist in mammalian navigation systems, including some in body-centric coordinates and others in world-centric coordinates.
“More generally, there are many vectorial codes in mammalian navigation systems1,2, including some in body-centric coordinates34,35, and others in world-centric coordinates34,36–38.”
From Transforming representations of movement from body- to world-centric space (2022) · cites this paper as [2]
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“Egocentric spatial representations are found mostly in regions upstream of the hippocampal–entorhinal allo-centric representations (e.g., primary sensory cortex), with some overlaps (e.g. in the hippocampus and lateral entorhinal cortex) (Wang et al., 2020).”
- Authors
- Wang, C., Chen, X., & Knierim, J. J.
- Affiliations
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wang, Cheng
- Knierim, James J
- Venue
- Current Opinion in Neurobiology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-02
- Volume
- 60
- Pages
- 12-20
- ISSN
- 0959-4388 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7080648
- OpenAlex
- W2990041000
- Cited by
- 141
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 16
- FWCI
- 1.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Current Opinion in Neurobiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- 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
- egocentric spatial representation, allocentric spatial representation, hippocampus, lateral entorhinal cortex, episodic memory, rodent brain, spatial coding, reference frames
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Hippocampus, Memory, Rodentia, Space Perception
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