Boundary Vector Cells in the Subiculum of the Hippocampal Formation
Open accessAbstract
“Boundary vector cells” were predicted to exist by computational models of the environmental inputs underlying the spatial firing patterns of hippocampal place cells (O'Keefe and Burgess, 1996; Burgess et al., 2000; Hartley et al., 2000). Here, we report the existence of cells fulfilling this description in recordings from the subiculum of freely moving rats. These cells may contribute environmental information to place cell firing, complementing path integrative information. Their relationship to other cell types, including medial entorhinal “border cells,” is discussed.
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Head-direction cells signal the direction of gaze.
“Subsequent research identified other spatially tuned cells-such as grid cells, which encode grid-like patterns; head-direction cells, which signal the direction of gaze; and boundary cells, which respond to environmental edges [46-48].”
From From Text to Space: Mapping Abstract Spatial Models in LLMs during a Grid-World Navigation Task (2025) · cites this paper as [47]
The Results section, “Boundary-related firing is not directional” (page unavailable), reports strong directional selectivity in presubicular head-direction cells. That supports directional signaling, but the paper does not establish that these cells signal the direction of gaze specifically. (LLM, conf=0.78)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredBoundary cells respond to environmental edges.
“Subsequent research identified other spatially tuned cells-such as grid cells, which encode grid-like patterns; head-direction cells, which signal the direction of gaze; and boundary cells, which respond to environmental edges [46-48].”
From From Text to Space: Mapping Abstract Spatial Models in LLMs during a Grid-World Navigation Task (2025) · cites this paper as [47]
Grid cells encode grid-like patterns.
“Subsequent research identified other spatially tuned cells-such as grid cells, which encode grid-like patterns; head-direction cells, which signal the direction of gaze; and boundary cells, which respond to environmental edges [46-48].”
From From Text to Space: Mapping Abstract Spatial Models in LLMs during a Grid-World Navigation Task (2025) · cites this paper as [47]
The cited paper’s Results and Discussion describe boundary vector cells responding to environmental boundaries, not grid cells encoding grid-like patterns. Searches for grid-cell firing patterns found no passage in our copy addressing the quoted claim. (LLM, conf=0.76)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
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Cites
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Flagged first, then by citations
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- Authors
- Lever, C., Burton, S., Jeewajee, A., O'Keefe, J., & Burgess, N.
- Affiliations
- University of Leeds (GB)
- University College London (GB)
- UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology (GB)
- Venue
- The Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Society for Neuroscience
- Published
- 2009-08-05
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 31
- Pages
- 9771-9777
- ISSN
- 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-2401
- PMC
- PMC2736390
- OpenAlex
- W2147027939
- Cited by
- 753
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 39 · 2025: 71 · 2024: 57 · 2023: 52 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 60 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 55 · 2017: 48 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 42 · 2014: 48 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 26
- FWCI
- 10.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (76328, 082507)
- European Commission
- Directorate for Biological Sciences
- Medical Research Council
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/G01342X/1, G01342X/1)
- 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
- subiculum, hippocampal formation, place cells, spatial firing patterns, border cells, medial entorhinal cortex, path integration
- MeSH terms
- Action Potentials, Animals, Electrodes, Implanted, Environment, Hippocampus, Motor Activity, Neurons, Space Perception, Time Factors, Rats
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