Task-dependent mixed selectivity in the subiculum

Debora Ledergerber; Claudia Battistin; Jan Sigurd Blackstad; Richard J Gardner; Menno P Witter; May-Britt Moser; Yasser Roudi; Edvard I Moser

doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109175

Task-dependent mixed selectivity in the subiculum

Cell Rep. 2021 May 25;35(8):109175. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109175.

Authors

Debora Ledergerber¹, Claudia Battistin², Jan Sigurd Blackstad², Richard J Gardner², Menno P Witter², May-Britt Moser², Yasser Roudi³, Edvard I Moser⁴

Affiliations

¹ Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience and Centre for Neural Computation, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Olav Kyrre s gate 9, MTFS, 7489 Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: debora.lederberber@kliniklengg.ch.
² Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience and Centre for Neural Computation, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Olav Kyrre s gate 9, MTFS, 7489 Trondheim, Norway.
³ Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience and Centre for Neural Computation, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Olav Kyrre s gate 9, MTFS, 7489 Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: yasser.roudi@ntnu.no.
⁴ Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience and Centre for Neural Computation, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Olav Kyrre s gate 9, MTFS, 7489 Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: edvard.moser@ntnu.no.

Abstract

CA1 and subiculum (SUB) connect the hippocampus to numerous output regions. Cells in both areas have place-specific firing fields, although they are more dispersed in SUB. Weak responses to head direction and running speed have been reported in both regions. However, how such information is encoded in CA1 and SUB and the resulting impact on downstream targets are poorly understood. Here, we estimate the tuning of simultaneously recorded CA1 and SUB cells to position, head direction, and speed. Individual neurons respond conjunctively to these covariates in both regions, but the degree of mixed representation is stronger in SUB, and more so during goal-directed spatial navigation than free foraging. Each navigational variable could be decoded with higher precision, from a similar number of neurons, in SUB than CA1. The findings point to a possible contribution of mixed-selective coding in SUB to efficient transmission of hippocampal representations to widespread brain regions.

Keywords: Enter keywords here.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Brain Mapping / methods*
Hippocampus / physiology*
Humans