Single-Neuron Representations of Spatial Targets in Humans

Tsitsiklis, Melina; Miller, Jonathan; Qasim, Salman E.; Inman, Cory S.; Gross, Robert E.; Smith, Elliot H.; Sheth, Sameer A.; Schevon, Catherine A.; Sperling, Michael R.; Sharan, Ashwini; Stein, Joel M.; Jacobs, Joshua

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.11.048

Cited by 47 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 66 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…3K) their firing rates in association with good memory performance. The finding of both positive and negative memory-sensitive cells is in 130 line with previous human single-neuron recordings (20), and negative memory-sensitive cells may be related to inhibitory engrams (21). We observed that memory-related firing rate changes were common among anchor cells (17 of 58 anchor cells were memory-sensitive cells; chi-squared test, χ²=11.709, P<0.001), but not among direction, place, or other cells (all χ²<1.717, all P>0.190; Fig.…”

Section: Main Textsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…For example, head-direction cells in rodents often exhibit baseline firing rates of about 0 spikes/s and increase their firing rates up to about 100 spikes/s at the preferred head direction (3). Directionally sensitive neurons in our study showed only moderate firing rate increases when subjects moved in the preferred direction [for similar tuning strengths, see, 710 e.g., (2,20,24,43)]. Thus, the use of the classical terminology (e.g., the term "place cells" to refer to spatially modulated neurons) should be treated with caution (we adhere to these terms for ease of reading).…”

Section: Supplementary Textmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…Anchor-cell activity may constitute an essential step in converting sensory information into allocentric spatial representations that give rise to cognitive maps (30). By transforming anchor-cell activity into allocentric coordinates, spatial view cells (31), spatial target cells 185 (20), or place cells that represent remote locations (32) may emerge -similar to how objectvector cells (11) and boundary vector/border cells (4, 5) may emerge from item-bearing cells (9) and egocentric boundary cells (10), respectively. Allocentric coding of spatial information that was originally experienced from a first-person perspective may be advantageous by allowing long-term storage and semantic, self-independent knowledge.…”

Section: Main Textmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Time periods in which the patient remained stationary for >2 s were excluded from the analysis. 520 To identify different cell types, we employed an ANOVA framework (2,20,(43)(44)(45), in which we assessed the effects of different factors on firing rates. To identify direction and place cells, we used a two-way ANOVA with factors "direction" and "place".…”

Section: General Statistical Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

A neural code for egocentric spatial maps in the human medial temporal lobe

Kunz

Brandt

Reinacher

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spatial navigation relies on neural systems that encode spatial information relative to the external world or in relation to the navigating organism. Ever since the proposal of cognitive maps, the neuroscience of spatial navigation has focused on allocentric (world-referenced) neural representations such as place cells. Here, using single-neuron recordings during virtual 30 navigation, we reveal a neural code of egocentric (self-centered) spatial information in the human brain: We describe "anchor cells", which represent egocentric directions towards local "anchor points" distributed across the environmental center and periphery. Anchor-cell activity was abundant in parahippocampal cortex, signaled anchor-point distances, and showed memory modulation. Anchor cells may thus facilitate egocentric navigation 35 strategies, may assist in transforming percepts into allocentric spatial representations, and may underlie the first-person perspective in episodic memories. One Sentence Summary:Anchor cells in the human brain provide the neural basis for a self-centered coordinate 40 system during spatial navigation.3 Main text:Detailed neural representations of space form the neurobiological basis of successful navigation and accurate spatial memory. Traditionally, the neuroscience of spatial navigation has focused on allocentric representations, which encode spatial information in relation to the 45 external world: the place field of a place cell may be located in the "northeast" corner of an environment (1, 2), a head-direction cell may activate whenever navigating "south" (3), and a boundary vector/border cell may respond to a spatial boundary located "west" (4, 5). However, spatial environments are primarily experienced from a first-person, egocentric perspective -requiring neural codes that provide spatial information in relation to the self. 50 Via transformation circuits (6, 7), egocentric representations (8-10) may then be converted into their allocentric counterparts (4, 5, 11) for abstract knowledge and long-term storage (12).Despite abundant behavioral evidence that humans employ egocentric spatial information to accomplish wayfinding (12-15), little is known about the neural basis of egocentric spatial 55 representations in humans. Here, we hypothesized that neurons in human medial temporal lobe (MTL) keep track of the instantaneous relationship between the navigating subject and proximal areas of the environment. Specifically, we targeted the identification of "anchor cells" whose activity encodes the subject's egocentric direction towards local reference points (termed "anchor points"). Such a coding scheme would be instrumental for egocentric 60 navigation, because it provides orientation in relation to the proximal spatial layout.To detect and characterize human anchor cells, we recorded single-neuron activity from the MTL of ten neurosurgical epilepsy patients (table S1), while patients performed an objectlocation memory task in a virtual environment (Fig. 1, A and B). In this task (16), patients learne...

show abstract

Section: Main Textsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Supplementary Textmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Main Textmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: General Statistical Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A neural code for egocentric spatial maps in the human medial temporal lobe

Kunz

Brandt

Reinacher

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We developed AR and VR paradigms that adapted the "Treasure Hunt" spatial memory task, previously used in [17,18,20,31]. Treasure Hunt is an object-location associative memory task in which subjects are asked to remember the locations of various hidden objects in a virtual environment.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studying Spatial Memory in Augmented and Virtual reality

Maidenbaum

Patel

Garlin

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Highlights• We built matching spatial memory tasks in VR and AR• Subjectively, subjects find the AR easier, more immersive and more fun• Objectively, subjects are significantly more accurate in AR compared to VR• Pointing based tasks did not fully show the same advantages • Only AR walking significantly correlated with SBSoD, suggesting mobile AR better captures more natural spatial performance Abstract Spatial memory is a crucial part of our lives. Spatial memory research and rehabilitation in humans is typically performed either in real environments, which is challenging practically, or in Virtual Reality (VR), which has limited realism. Here we explored the use of Augmented Reality (AR) for studying spatial cognition. AR combines the best features of real and VR paradigms by allowing subjects to learn spatial information in a flexible fashion while walking through a real-world environment. To compare these methods, we had subjects perform the same spatial memory task in VR and AR settings. Although subjects showed good performance in both, subjects reported that the AR task version was significantly easier, more immersive, and more fun than VR. Importantly, memory performance was significantly better in AR compared to VR. Our findings validate that integrating AR can lead to improved techniques for spatial memory research and suggest their potential for rehabilitation.

show abstract

The human posterior cingulate, retrosplenial, and medial parietal cortex effective connectome, and implications for memory and navigation

Rolls

Wirth

Deco

et al. 2022

Human Brain Mapping

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The human posterior cingulate, retrosplenial, and medial parietal cortex are involved in memory and navigation. The functional anatomy underlying these cognitive functions was investigated by measuring the effective connectivity of these Posterior Cingulate Division (PCD) regions in the Human Connectome Project-MMP1 atlas in 171 HCP participants, and complemented with functional connectivity and diffusion tractography. First, the postero-ventral parts of the PCD (31pd, 31pv, 7m, d23ab, and v23ab) have effective connectivity with the temporal pole, inferior temporal visual cortex, cortex in the superior temporal sulcus implicated in auditory and semantic processing, with the reward-related vmPFC and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, with the inferior parietal cortex, and with the hippocampal system. This connectivity implicates it in hippocampal episodic memory, providing routes for "what," reward and semantic schema-related information to access the hippocampus. Second, the antero-dorsal parts of the PCD (especially 31a and 23d, PCV, and also RSC) have connectivity with early visual cortical areas including those that represent spatial scenes, with the superior parietal cortex, with the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, and with the hippocampal system. This connectivity implicates it in the "where" component for hippocampal episodic memory and for spatial navigation. The dorsal-

show abstract

Single-Neuron Representations of Spatial Targets in Humans

Cited by 47 publications

References 66 publications

A neural code for egocentric spatial maps in the human medial temporal lobe

A neural code for egocentric spatial maps in the human medial temporal lobe

Studying Spatial Memory in Augmented and Virtual reality

The human posterior cingulate, retrosplenial, and medial parietal cortex effective connectome, and implications for memory and navigation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About