Motion (physics)

Human–computer interaction

Geodesy

Philosophy

Hippocampal formation

Artificial intelligence

Humanities

Psychology

Neuroscience

Political science

Grid

Virtual reality

Geography

Representation (politics)

Place cell

Grid cell

Self representation

Computer vision

Computer science

Sensory system

Politics

Nature Communications

Place and grid cells in the hippocampal formation provide foundational representations of environmental location, and potentially of locations within conceptual spaces. Some accounts predict that environmental sensory information and self-motion are encoded in complementary representations, while other models suggest that both features combine to produce a single coherent representation. Here, we use virtual reality to dissociate visual environmental from physical motion inputs, while recording place and grid cells in mice navigating virtual open arenas. Place cell firing patterns predominantly reflect visual inputs, while grid cell activity reflects a greater influence of physical motion. Thus, even when recorded simultaneously, place and grid cell firing patterns differentially reflect environmental information (or ‘states’) and physical self-motion (or ‘transitions’), and need not be mutually coherent.

Differential influences of environment and self-motion on place and grid cell firing