Topic: spatial code

In addition to maintaining a healthy body, physical activity benefits the brain, improving memory and cognition. While some of the physiological effects of voluntary exercise on the brain are known (e.g., increased hippocampal neurogenesis), little is known about its effects on the neural code. Using longitudinal Ca2+ imaging in freely behaving mice and tracking the same neurons over weeks, we studied how voluntary exercise affects the quality and long-term stability of hippocampal place codes. In addition to increasing neurogenesis, we found that running accelerated the emergence of spatial c

To flexibly navigate environments the brain must continuously update its sense of direction and position through the integration of vision and self-motion cues. Yet, it remains unclear how visual cues update spatial codes throughout the brain. One useful approach to examine this relationship is during reorientation, wherein a conflict between internal and external sense of direction and position is resolved. Recent work has shown that reorientation of head direction representation in the anterior dorsal thalamic nucleus (ADN), which functions as a ring-attractor, occurs at a variable temporal