Spatial processing: Connecting up the grid.

摘要

The periodic firing of grid cells is determined by an animal's movement. Indeed, each grid cell generates a hexagonal, grid-like firing pattern that, when combined with other grid cell firing patterns, maps the local environment, allowing self-localization. How such patterns are generated has been unclear. Now, two new studies provide insight into how grid cells are connected locally in the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) and how they are influenced by inputs from the hippocampus.