Path integration in mammals

Abstract

ABSTRACT:It is often assumed that navigation implies the use, by animals, of landmarks indicating the location of the goal. However, many animals (including humans) are able to return to the starting point of a journey, or to other goal sites, by relying on self-motion cues only. This process is known as path integration, and it allows an agent to calculate a route without making use of landmarks. We review the current literature on path integration and its interaction with external, location-based cues. Special importance is given to the correlation between observable behavior and the activity pattern of particular neural cell populations that implement the internal representation of space. In mammals, the latter may well be the first high-level cognitive representation to be understood at the neural level.

Vestibular stimulation enhances hippocampal long-term potentiation via activation of cholinergic septohippocampal cells

“…A recent study demonstrated that LTP when recorded in the dentate gyrus during the dark phase was larger than that during the light phase in behaving rats [54]. Previous studies suggested that vestibular and other sensory information are transmitted to and processed in the hippocampus to facilitate spatial navigation [55][56][57]. Vestibular inputs are necessary for path integration [58][59][60][61].…”

Spatial Representation and Navigation in a Bio-inspired Robot

“…While the agent moves through an environment the activities of HICs (1) and PICs (2) encode estimates of its position and heading with respect to the origin and the reference direction based only on the idiothetic input. They enable the agent to navigate in darkness or return to the nest location in the absence of visual cues, properties that are well known in animals [35]. The estimation of direction and position will drift over time due to accumulating errors in the odometers.…”

Modelling Path Integrator Recalibration Using Hippocampal Place Cells

“…Electrophysiological studies reveal that the firing pattern of a place cell is sensitive to the position of visual landmarks placed around [2], but also within [3] the environment. However, using path integration (PI) [4], the animal is also capable of returning to the starting point of a journey based on internal cues only (i.e. homing).…”

“…In this case no external cues are available and place cell activity depends only on PI [5]. Finally, behavioural experiments with rodents indicate that PI can be recalibrated using visual information [4].…”