Representations of large-scale spaces by grid cells in the medial entorhinal cortex (mEC) requires uniform firing patterns throughout the space being navigated. However, boundaries can disrupt grid-cell firing patterns, suggesting an influence of local environmental cues. Recordings from mEC neurons in a two-compartment chamber showed that, although mEC-cell firing was initially influenced by local cues, firing patterns subesquently formed a single, continuous grid representation that spanned both compartments. Thus, grid cells can uniformly cover the space to be navigated and support large-scale spatial navigation.
References
Carpenter, F. et al. Grid cells form a global representation of connected environments. Curr. Biol. 25, 1176–1182 (2015)
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Lewis, S. Gridlock. Nat Rev Neurosci 16, 316 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3972
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3972