Cited by 93Memory and Neural MechanismsSpatial Cognition and NavigationNeurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms

Origin and role of path integration in the cognitive representations of the hippocampus: computational insights into open questions

Open access
Savelli, Francesco, Knierim, James J.·2019·Journal of Experimental Biology

Abstract

Path integration is a straightforward concept with varied connotations that are important to different disciplines concerned with navigation, such as ethology, cognitive science, robotics and neuroscience. In studying the hippocampal formation, it is fruitful to think of path integration as a computation that transforms a sense of motion into a sense of location, continuously integrated with landmark perception. Here, we review experimental evidence that path integration is intimately involved in fundamental properties of place cells and other spatial cells that are thought to support a cognitive abstraction of space in this brain system. We discuss hypotheses about the anatomical and computational origin of path integration in the well-characterized circuits of the rodent limbic system. We highlight how computational frameworks for map-building in robotics and cognitive science alike suggest an essential role for path integration in the creation of a new map in unfamiliar territory, and how this very role can help us make sense of differences in neurophysiological data from novel versus familiar and small versus large environments. Similar computational principles could be at work when the hippocampus builds certain non-spatial representations, such as time intervals or trajectories defined in a sensory stimulus space.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1242/jeb.188912

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193 of 193 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Idiothetic information enables the animal to update its position in space based on path integration whereas an allocentric reference frame orients, constrains and stabilizes the animal's internal position estimate.

    “Idiothetic information enables the animal to update its position in space based on path integration whereas an allocentric reference frame (that is, combination of landmarks and geometric boundaries) orients, constrains and stabilizes the animal’s internal position estimate13,14.”

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Authors
Savelli, F., & Knierim, J. J.
Affiliations
Johns Hopkins University (US)
Venue
Journal of Experimental Biology
Published
2019-02-06
Volume
222
Issue
Suppl_1
ISSN
  • 0022-0949 (ISSN-L)
  • 1477-9145
OpenAlex
W2914981776
Cited by
93
References
193
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 6
FWCI
1.27
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Experimental Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Institutes of Health (R01 NS039456, R01 NS102537, R21 NS095075, R01 MH079511)
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
path integration, hippocampus, place cells, spatial representation, cognitive maps, navigation, map building
MeSH terms
Animals, Cognition, Hippocampus, Humans, Space Perception, Spatial Navigation

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