Spatial cognition

…head-fixed adult zebrafish, linking spatial cognition to telencephalic circuits. Behavioural training, two-photon imaging and circuit-level methods reveal how functional neuron types represent virtual environments and how experience refines those representations. Virtual-environment manipulations test cognitive inference and prediction, connecting internal models used in navigation and planning to neural organisation.

Hippocampal remapping describes the phenomenon of substantial reshuffling of the spatial preferences of hippocampal place cells in response to environmental changes. Disparate neural representations in different environments could reduce interference between competing memories, hence functionally supporting robust context-dependent spatial cognition. Experimental data on existing remapping studies exhibit a diverse range of physiological properties, sometimes with seemingly conflicting results. In particular, subtle changes in experimental conditions lead to qualitatively different results. De

In many neurological disorders, sleep disturbances and intellectual disability are strongly associated.Therefore, by studying these types of disorders, we can attempt to elucidate molecular and cellularmechanisms with broad relevance to brain function and disease. Christianson syndrome (CS) is anexample of a monogenic condition involving X-linked intellectual disability and sleep disturbances.The lack of treatment options for these children is directly related to our poor understanding of themechanisms underlying the disease. CS arises from mutations in the SLC9A6 gene which encodes theendosom

The vestibular system plays a pivotal role in tracking head direction for effective navigation in complex environments. We hypothesize that the decline in navigational ability observed with aging is closely linked to the deterioration of a key ascending vestibular pathway in the head-direction network. With cre-dependent viruses for both anterograde and retrograde tracings, we discovered in mice a previously unreported direct pathway from the medial vestibular nucleus (MVN) to the dorsal tegmental nucleus (DTN), supplementing the conventional indirect pathways via the nucleus prepositus hypogl

Spatial cognition is crucial for navigation and survival and has been extensively studied in mammals, thereby revealing specialized cell types such as place cells, grid cells, and head direction cells. Avian species like titmice, quails, barn owls, streaked shearwaters, and black-capped chickadees also exhibit these cell types. Despite pigeons demonstrating remarkable spatial cognition and navigation abilities, the neural basis remains poorly understood. Previous research suggests that spatial coding in neurons, such as place cells, can be influenced by factors like distances from walls or env

Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that can cause impairments in spatial cognition. The hippocampus is thought to support spatial cognitive functions through the activity of place cells, neurons with spatial receptive fields. The reactivation or “replay” of previously active place cell sequences during sharp wave-ripples (SWRs) is believed to be important for spatial memory-guided planning and spatial memory consolidation. Previous research has shown that SWRs are abnormal in a mouse model of FXS (Boone et al. 2018), but to our knowledge the replay of place cell sequence

…antibiotics affect cognition. We studied a murine model in which mice drank water containing an antibiotic cocktail (ABX group) or untreated water (CON group). Separate cohorts received butyrate, a key microbiome-derived metabolite, either in the presence (ABXBA group) or absence (BA group) of antibiotics. The four groups were tested at 4 weeks of treatment. We assessed hippocampus–related spatial

Spatial cognition is a field of research that investigates the basis of human and animal navigation and orientation. Many animals possess excellent spatial abilities like homing and migration that can be found across the animal kingdom. The hippocampus is an essential brain area for memory formation and spatial cognition in both mammals and birds, which has been shown physiologically in the form of place and head-direction cells as well as functionally through for example ablation studies. However, in contrast to mammals, the precise pattern of hippocampal spatial processing is still rather un

The vertebrate telencephalon is the site of complex cognitive processes, such as spatial cognition. The larval zebrafish telencephalon is a compact circuit of only ~10,000 neurons that contains potentially homologous structures to the mammalian basal ganglia and limbic system (e.g., the hippocampus). However, despite long-standing evidence that spatial navigation and learning in zebrafish requires an intact telencephalon, cells believed to underlie spatial cognition in the mammalian hippocampus (e.g., place cells) have yet to be established in any fish species. Using a tracking microscope to i

The hippocampus' role in spatial cognition is well-established, with place cells encoding environmental spatial information and interneurons modulating neural circuitry. Our research explores the role of NEIL3, a DNA glycosylase, in hippocampal neural processing. To determine the role of NEIL3 in the functioning of hippocampal neurons, we conducted in-vivo electrophysiological recordings to measure the activity of place cells and inhibitory interneurons in the hippocampus of both wild-type mice and mice lacking NEIL3 (Neil3-/-). We found that NEIL3-deficient CA1 place cells maintain normal spa

…a large-scale brain network underlying spatial cognition. The RE activity has been implicated in navigation, decision making, and spatial memory consolidation. We have previously shown that the RE activity is critical for the retrieval of spatial memory. Yet, the network mechanisms of the RE contribution to the extended prefrontal-thalamo-hippocampal circuit remain to be explored. It has been suggeste

The vertebrate telencephalon is the site of complex cognitive processes such as spatial cognition. The larval zebrafish telencephalon is a compact circuit of ~10,000 neurons that nevertheless contains homologous structures to the mammalian basal ganglia and limbic system (e.g. hippocampus and amygdala). However, despite long-standing evidence that spatial navigation and learning in adult fish requires an intact telencephalon, cells believed to underlie spatial cognition in mammals (e.g. place and grid cells) have yet to be established in any fish species. Using a tracking microscope to image b

Spatial cognition depends on an accurate representation of orientation within an environment. Head direction cells in distributed brain regions receive a range of sensory inputs, including proprioceptive, vestibular, and somatosensory information, but visual input is particularly important for aligning their responses to environmental landmarks. To investigate how population-level heading responses are aligned to visual input, we recorded from the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) of head-fixed mice in a moving environment using two-photon calcium imaging. RSC receives strong inputs from both visual

Mammals instinctively explore and form mental maps of their spatial environments. Models of cognitive mapping in neuroscience tend to depict map-learning as a process of random or biased diffusion; however, in practice, animals explore spaces using structured, purposeful, sensory-guided actions. A promising model system for probing the relationship between spontaneous exploration and spatial cognition is threat-evoked escape behavior in mice. Notably, Shamash et al. 2021 examined how mice learn routes to a shelter when the direct path is blocked by an obstacle. They found that during a 20-min

Mammals instinctively explore and form mental maps of their spatial environments. Models of cognitive mapping in neuroscience mostly depict map-learning as a process of random or biased diffusion. In practice, however, animals explore spaces using structured, purposeful, sensory-guided actions. We have used threat-evoked escape behavior in mice to probe the relationship between ethological exploratory behavior and abstract spatial cognition. First, we show that in arenas with obstacles and a shelter, mice spontaneously learn efficient multi-step escape routes by memorizing allocentric subgoal