美国约翰霍普金斯大学Noah J. Cowan，James J. Knierim和Manu S. Madhav共同合作，近期取得重要工作进展。他们研究提出了基于光流的位置细胞路径整合控制与再校准。相关研究成骨2024年6月27日在线发表于《自然—神经科学》杂志上。

据介绍，当动物在其环境中导航时，海马位置细胞受到自身运动（独特）信号和外部感觉标志的影响。为了持续更新内部“认知地图”上的位置信号，海马系统随着时间的推移整合自我运动信号，这一过程依赖于精细校准的路径整合增益，该增益将物理空间中的运动与认知地图上的运动联系起来。目前尚不清楚单独的独特视觉线索（如光流）是否对认知地图产生足够的影响，以实现路径整合的重新校准，或者地标提供的偏振位置信息是否对这种重新校准至关重要。

研究人员展示了在自由运动的大鼠中利用纯光流信息对路径积分增益的重新校准和位置场的系统控制。这些发现表明，大脑不断地重新平衡相互冲突的独特线索的影响，以微调路径整合的神经动力学，并且这种重新校准过程不需要来自地标的自上而下、明确的位置信号。

附：英文原文

Title: Control and recalibration of path integration in place cells using optic flow

Author: Madhav, Manu S., Jayakumar, Ravikrishnan P., Li, Brian Y., Lashkari, Shahin G., Wright, Kelly, Savelli, Francesco, Knierim, James J., Cowan, Noah J.

Issue&Volume: 2024-06-27

Abstract: Hippocampal place cells are influenced by both self-motion (idiothetic) signals and external sensory landmarks as an animal navigates its environment. To continuously update a position signal on an internal ‘cognitive map’, the hippocampal system integrates self-motion signals over time, a process that relies on a finely calibrated path integration gain that relates movement in physical space to movement on the cognitive map. It is unclear whether idiothetic cues alone, such as optic flow, exert sufficient influence on the cognitive map to enable recalibration of path integration, or if polarizing position information provided by landmarks is essential for this recalibration. Here, we demonstrate both recalibration of path integration gain and systematic control of place fields by pure optic flow information in freely moving rats. These findings demonstrate that the brain continuously rebalances the influence of conflicting idiothetic cues to fine-tune the neural dynamics of path integration, and that this recalibration process does not require a top-down, unambiguous position signal from landmarks.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01681-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-024-01681-9