RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A neural code for egocentric spatial maps in the human medial temporal lobe
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.03.03.973131
DO 10.1101/2020.03.03.973131
A1 Lukas Kunz
A1 Armin Brandt
A1 Peter C. Reinacher
A1 Bernhard P. Staresina
A1 Eric T. Reifenstein
A1 Christoph T. Weidemann
A1 Nora A. Herweg
A1 Melina Tsitsiklis
A1 Richard Kempter
A1 Michael J. Kahana
A1 Andreas Schulze-Bonhage
A1 Joshua Jacobs
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/03/31/2020.03.03.973131.abstract
AB Spatial navigation relies on neural systems that encode spatial information relative to the external world or relative to the navigating organism. Ever since the proposal of cognitive maps, the neuroscience of spatial navigation has focused on allocentric (world-referenced) representations such as place cells. Here, using single-neuron recordings during virtual navigation, we reveal a neural code for egocentric (self-centered) spatial information in humans: “anchor cells” represent egocentric directions towards proximal “anchor points” located in the environmental center or periphery. Anchor cells were abundant in parahippocampal cortex, supported full vectorial representations of egocentric space, and were integrated into a neural memory network. Anchor cells may thus facilitate egocentric navigation strategies, assist in transforming percepts into allocentric spatial representations, and may underlie the first-person perspective in episodic memories.One Sentence Summary Anchor cells in the human brain provide the neural basis for a self-centered coordinate system during spatial navigation.