Cited by 105Memory and Neural MechanismsSpatial Cognition and NavigationNeurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms

Hippocampal Place Fields Maintain a Coherent and Flexible Map across Long Timescales

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Kinsky, Nathaniel R., Sullivan, David W., Mau, William, Hasselmo, Michael E., Eichenbaum, Howard B.·2018·Current Biology

Abstract

To provide a substrate for remembering where in space events have occurred, place cells must reliably encode the same positions across long timescales. However, in many cases, place cells exhibit instability by randomly reorganizing their place fields between experiences, challenging this premise. Recent evidence suggests that, in some cases, instability could also arise from coherent rotations of place fields, as well as from random reorganization. To investigate this possibility, we performed in vivo calcium imaging in dorsal hippocampal region CA1 of freely moving mice while they explored two arenas with different geometry and visual cues across 8 days. The two arenas were rotated randomly between sessions and then connected, allowing us to probe how cue rotations, the integration of new information about the environment, and the passage of time concurrently influenced the spatial coherence of place fields. We found that spatially coherent rotations of place-field maps in the same arena predominated, persisting up to 6 days later, and that they frequently rotated in a manner that did not match that of the arena rotation. Furthermore, place-field maps were flexible, as mice frequently employed a similar, coherent configuration of place fields to represent each arena despite their differing geometry and eventual connection. These results highlight the ability of the hippocampus to retain consistent relationships between cells across long timescales and suggest that, in many cases, apparent instability might result from a coherent rotation of place fields.

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  • Spatial tuning across the hippocampus is not entirely independent but may form correlated assemblies.

    “This may support recent work in rodents suggesting that spatial tuning across the hippocampus is not entirely independent but may form correlated assemblies30,31,40,45.”
  • There is evidence for a weakly preconfigured network in the telencephalon.

    “Using analysis of neighbourhood distance between PCs across environments, we found evidence for a weakly preconfigured network in the telencephalon.”

    From A population code for spatial representation in the zebrafish telencephalon (2024) · cites this paper as [31]

    The Results section, “Coherent Maps Generalize Across Different Environments” (page unavailable), reports coherent hippocampal place-field maps across arenas, but does not describe a weakly preconfigured network. Searches for “weakly preconfigured network in the telencephalon” and “neighbourhood distance between PCs across environments” found no passage addressing that specific finding or analysis. (LLM, conf=0.75)

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Authors
Kinsky, N. R., Sullivan, D. W., Mau, W., Hasselmo, M. E., & Eichenbaum, H. B.
Affiliations
Boston University (US)
Corresponding author
Kinsky, Nathaniel R.
Venue
Current Biology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2018-11
Volume
28
Issue
22
Pages
3578-3588.e6
ISSN
0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2898899965
Cited by
105
References
60
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 1
FWCI
5.96
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Current Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institutes of Health (R01 MH051570, R01 MH052090)
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, hippocampal CA1, spatial memory, long-term memory, visual cues, spatial coherence
MeSH terms
Place Cells, Action Potentials, Animals, Attention, Calcium, Cues, Exploratory Behavior, Hippocampus, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Neurons, Space Perception, Temporal Lobe, Mice, CA1 Region, Hippocampal, Spatial Navigation

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