A Map of Spatial Navigation for Neuroscience

Abstract

An animal's ability to navigate space is crucial to its survival. It is also cognitively demanding, and relatively easy to probe. For these reasons, spatial navigation has received a great deal of attention from neuroscientists, leading to the identification of key brain areas and the ongoing discovery of a ``zoo'' of cell types responding to different aspects of spatial tasks. Despite this progress, our understanding of how the pieces fit together to drive behavior is generally lacking. We argue that this is partly caused by insufficient communication between researchers focusing on spatial behavior and those attempting to study its neural basis. This has led the latter to under-appreciate the relevance and complexity of spatial behavior, and to focus too narrowly on characterizing neural representations of space—disconnected from the computations these representations are meant to enable. We therefore propose a taxonomy of navigation processes in mammals that can serve as a common framework for structuring and facilitating interdisciplinary research in the field. Using the taxonomy as a guide, we review behavioral and neural studies of spatial navigation. In doing so, we both validate the taxonomy and showcase its usefulness in identifying potential issues with common experimental approaches, designing experiments that adequately target particular behaviors, correctly interpreting neural activity, and pointing to new avenues of research.

The integration of egocentric and allocentric spatial information is important for navigation

“…The identification of specific neurons such as grid cells, headdirection cells, and boundary vector cells within the MEC, together with egocentrically modulated border cells in the LEC, furnishes empirical backing for these findings. Grid Cell Grid cells create a structured hexagonal lattice in two-dimensional spaces, serving as an allocentric spatial coordinate system within the brain, 9 which aids vector-based navigation. 10 These cells are organized into modules characterized by their spacing and orientation, with the spacing between these modules increasing by a ratio nearly equivalent to √2 , as illustrated in Figure 2C.…”

The cost of behavioral flexibility: reversal learning driven by a spiking neural network

“…Spatial navigation and reversal learning (RL) are fundamental skills for mobile animals. Spatial navigation involves identifying and maintaining a path between two locations [15]. Research over the past 50 years has identified key brain regions for spatial navigation in the medial temporal lobe and spatially selective cells like place cell (PC) [14], boundary cells (BC) [10], and head direction cells [17].…”