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Abstract
In rodents, cells in the medial entorhinal cortex (EC) and subiculum code for the allocentric direction to environment boundaries, which is an important prerequisite for accurate positional coding. Although in humans boundary-related signals have been reported, there is no evidence that they contain allocentric direction information. Furthermore, it has not been possible to separate boundary versus goal direction signals in the EC/subiculum. Here, to address these questions, we had participants learn a virtual environment containing four unique boundaries. Participants then underwent fMRI scanning where they made judgements about the allocentric direction of a cue object. Using multivariate decoding, we found information regarding allocentric boundary direction in posterior EC and subiculum, whereas allocentric goal direction was decodable from anterior EC and subiculum. These data provide the first evidence of allocentric boundary coding in humans, and are consistent with recent conceptualisations of a division of labour within the EC.
Highlights
In rodents, cells in the medial entorhinal cortex (EC) and subiculum code for the allocentric direction to environment boundaries, which is an important prerequisite for accurate positional coding
Before proceeding to the scanned functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task, participants were required to learn the layout of the virtual environment (VE) as assessed by a judgement of relative direction (JRD) task
Performance was significantly better for landmarks located at 180°, or 90° disparity versus those located at 270° disparity ([paired-sample t test: t (27) = 3.45, p = 0.001, 95% CI: [0.05–0.18], Hedges’s gav = 0.84; adjusted alpha = 0.05/3 comparisons = 0.017] and [paired-sample t test: t (27) = 3.66, p = 0.001, 95% CI: [0.04–0.14], Hedges’s gav = 0.73], respectively); performance did not differ between 180° and 90° disparities [pairedsample t test: t (27) = 0.93, p = 0.36 95% CI: [−0.07 to 0.03], Hedges’s gav = 0.18]
Summary
Cells in the medial entorhinal cortex (EC) and subiculum code for the allocentric direction to environment boundaries, which is an important prerequisite for accurate positional coding. Cells coding for environment boundaries were identified in the rodent dorsal subiculum (homologous with human posterior subiculum), with these so-called boundary vector cells containing information about both the allocentric direction and distance[18] to walls. Despite evidence of boundary-related signals in the EC/hippocampus, these studies do not demonstrate the allocentric directional information necessary to support accurate positional coding[19]. It is unclear whether the signal discriminates if the boundary is located to the North, South, East or West, regardless of the participant’s position and orientation in the environment
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