Vector Trace cells in the Subiculum of the hippocampal formation
Award Number
BB/T014768/1Status / Stage
ActiveDates
1 September 2020 -28 February 2023
Duration (calculated)
02 years 05 monthsFunder(s)
BBSRC (UKRI)Funding Amount
£380,430.00Funder/Grant study page
BBSRC UKRIContracted Centre
Durham UniversityPrincipal Investigator
Dr Colin LeverPI Contact
colin.lever@durham.ac.ukPI ORCID
0000-0002-8955-2885WHO Catergories
Understanding Underlying DiseaseDisease Type
Dementia (Unspecified)CPEC Review Info
| Reference ID | 717 |
|---|---|
| Researcher | Reside Team |
| Published | 07/07/2023 |
Data
| Award Number | BB/T014768/1 |
|---|---|
| Status / Stage | Active |
| Start Date | 20200901 |
| End Date | 20230228 |
| Duration (calculated) | 02 years 05 months |
| Funder/Grant study page | BBSRC UKRI |
| Contracted Centre | Durham University |
| Funding Amount | £380,430.00 |
Abstract
Understanding how the hippocampus supports spatial memory is a major goal of research globally. Here, we focus on one kind of spatial memory: remembering how far away and in what direction space-defining cues are located, that is, vector memory. Cognitive processes such as path-planning and imagination entail recall of vector representations, but single-neuron evidence for such vector memory has been lacking. Importantly, we have found exactly such evidence of vector memory: a novel neuron type, here called the Vector Trace cell (VTC), located in the subiculum. VTCs remember the distance and direction to an object for at least a few hours after that object is removed. VTCs likely support computing the spatial relationships between an animal and multiple cues (or between different cues), freed from the constraints of perceiving those cues. This enables more powerful spatial planning and imaginative cognition than would be the case for vector system without memory. Clearly, if we want to understand exactly how hippocampus supports spatial memory, then we must understand how the hippocampal produces vector-based spatial memory. This entails appreciating the particular role of the subiculum, where VTCs are located, and which is a key output region of the hippocampus. In humans at least, it may be the most crucial hippocampal region for interacting with the rest of the brain since it has been identified as the hippocampal node in the ‘default mode network’. This grant aims to deliver a step-change in the understanding of hippocampal vector coding by delivering insights into: how the subiculum is organised functionally into different divisions, with one of these divisions supporting vector memory; the mechanisms of how individual vector trace cells generate vector coding and form and maintain vector memories, and how long this memory lasts; and finally how vector coding of external cues influences grid cell coding.
Aims
This grant aims to deliver a step-change in the understanding of hippocampal vector coding by delivering insights into: how the subiculum is organised functionally into different divisions, with one of these divisions supporting vector memory; the mechanisms of how individual vector trace cells generate vector coding and form and maintain vector memories, and how long this memory lasts; and finally how vector coding of external cues influences grid cell coding.