Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Aging, spatial behavior and the cognitive map

Hippocampal neurons are thought to form a cognitive map of the environment based on multiple cues. A new study shows that young animals switch between cues more easily than aged animals and also perform better on a spatial learning task.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Cartoon of hippocampal map use by young-adult and aged rats.

Bob Crimi

References

  1. O'Keefe, J. & Dostrovsky, J. Brain Res. 34, 171–175 (1971).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Gothard, K.M., Skaggs, W.E. & McNaughton, B.L. J. Neurosci. 16, 8027–8040 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Knierim, J.J., Kudrimoti, H.S. & McNaughton, B.L. J. Neurophysiol. 80, 425–446 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. O'Keefe, J. Progress Neurobiol. 13, 419–439 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Muller, R.U. & Kubie, J.L. J. Neurosci. 7, 1951–1968 (1987).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Muller, R.U. Neuron 17, 979–990 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. O'Keefe, J. & Nadel, L. The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map (Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Rosenzweig, E.S., Redish, A.D., McNaughton, B.L. & Barnes, C.A. Nat. Neurosci. 6, 611–617 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Prusky, G.T., West, P.W. & Douglas, R.M. Behav. Brain Res. 116, 135–140 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emma R Wood.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wood, E., Dudchenko, P. Aging, spatial behavior and the cognitive map. Nat Neurosci 6, 546–548 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0603-546

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0603-546

This article is cited by

  • Hippocalcin

    • Masaaki Kobayashi
    • Ken Takamatsu

    AfCS-Nature Molecule Pages (2009)

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing