RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Spatial maps in piriform cortex during olfactory navigation
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.02.18.935494
DO 10.1101/2020.02.18.935494
A1 Poo, Cindy
A1 Agarwal, Gautam
A1 Bonacchi, Niccolò
A1 Mainen, Zachary
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/07/05/2020.02.18.935494.abstract
AB Odors are a fundamental part of the sensory environment used by animals to inform behaviors such as foraging and navigation1, 2. Primary olfactory (piriform) cortex is thought to be dedicated to encoding odor identity3–8. Here, using neural ensemble recordings in freely moving rats performing a novel odor-cued spatial choice task, we show that posterior piriform cortex neurons also carry a robust spatial map of the environment. Piriform spatial maps were stable across behavioral contexts independent of olfactory drive or reward availability, and the accuracy of spatial information carried by individual neurons depended on the strength of their functional coupling to the hippocampal theta rhythm. Ensembles of piriform neurons concurrently represented odor identity as well as spatial locations of animals, forming an “olfactory-place map”. Our results reveal a previously unknown function for piriform cortex in spatial cognition and suggest that it is well-suited to form odor-place associations and guide olfactory cued spatial navigation.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.