PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lukas Kunz
AU  - Armin Brandt
AU  - Peter C. Reinacher
AU  - Bernhard P. Staresina
AU  - Eric T. Reifenstein
AU  - Christoph T. Weidemann
AU  - Nora A. Herweg
AU  - Melina Tsitsiklis
AU  - Richard Kempter
AU  - Michael J. Kahana
AU  - Andreas Schulze-Bonhage
AU  - Joshua Jacobs
TI  - A neural code for egocentric spatial maps in the human medial temporal lobe
AID  - 10.1101/2020.03.03.973131
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.03.03.973131
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/05/07/2020.03.03.973131.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/05/07/2020.03.03.973131.full
AB  - Spatial navigation relies on neural systems that encode information about places, distances, and directions in relation to the external world or relative to the navigating organism. Since the proposal of cognitive maps, the neuroscience of navigation has focused on allocentric (world-referenced) neural representations including place, grid, and head-direction cells. Here, using single-neuron recordings during virtual navigation, we identify “anchor cells” in the human brain as a neural code for egocentric (self-centered) spatial maps: Anchor cells represent egocentric directions towards “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. Neurons encoding allocentric direction complemented anchor-cell activity, potentially assisting anchor cells in transforming percepts into allocentric representations. Anchor cells may facilitate egocentric navigation strategies, may support route planning from egocentric viewpoints, and may underlie the first-person perspective in episodic memories.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.