Effects of medial and lateral entorhinal cortex lesions on path integration

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Effects of medial and lateral entorhinal cortex lesions on path integration Jeremy Camon1, Tiffany Van-Cauter1, Coralie Elduayen1, Francesca Sargolini1 and Etienne Save1* 1 Aix-Marseille University, Laboratory of Neurobiology and Cognition, CNRS, France Increasing evidence indicates that the entorhinal cortex (EC) makes an important contribution to spatial information processing in rodents. In particular, it has been suggested that the EC is crucial for path integration, a navigation strategy based on the use of movement-related information. This hypothesis is supported by lesion data showing that large EC lesions disrupt path integration behavior. In addition, the recently-discovered grid cells, i.e. cells that display location-specific firing with multiple place fields, have functional characteristics suggesting that they are crucial elements of a path integration system. Because grid cells are concentrated in the medial part of the EC, it is hypothesized that the medial but not the lateral EC mediates path integration processes. To address this issue, we examined the effects of medial (MEC) vs. lateral (LEC) lesions of the EC in path integration. Rats were trained in a homing task on a large circular platform surrounded by curtains and containing 17 food cups. The animal had to leave a refuge, explore the platform to find a hidden piece of food and carry it back to the refuge. Following training, the rats received testing trials in which they had to retrieve food from each of the available food cups and come back to the refuge. Experimental groups included rats with pre- and post-training MEC and LEC lesions. The results showed that pre-trained and post-trained lesioned rats displayed similar learning rate during training. MEC-lesioned groups showed impaired path integration performance whereas LEC-lesioned groups displayed control-like performance. The results are consistent with the hypothesis of a functional heterogeneity of EC, and suggest that the medial EC, but not the LEC, is important for path integration, a function that may be mediated by grid cells. Conference: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting, Rhodes Island, Greece, 13 Sep - 18 Sep, 2009. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster presentations Citation: Camon J, Van-Cauter T, Elduayen C, Sargolini F and Save E (2009). Effects of medial and lateral entorhinal cortex lesions on path integration. Conference Abstract: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.08.2009.09.103 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 08 Jun 2009; Published Online: 08 Jun 2009. * Correspondence: Etienne Save, Aix-Marseille University, Laboratory of Neurobiology and Cognition, CNRS, 13331 Marseille, France, etienne.save@univ-amu.fr Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Jeremy Camon Tiffany Van-Cauter Coralie Elduayen Francesca Sargolini Etienne Save Google Jeremy Camon Tiffany Van-Cauter Coralie Elduayen Francesca Sargolini Etienne Save Google Scholar Jeremy Camon Tiffany Van-Cauter Coralie Elduayen Francesca Sargolini Etienne Save PubMed Jeremy Camon Tiffany Van-Cauter Coralie Elduayen Francesca Sargolini Etienne Save Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.