Journal article
Three-dimensional head-direction coding in the bat brain
Nature, Vol.517(7533), pp.159-U65
Jan/2015
Abstract
Navigation requires a sense of direction ('compass'), which in mammals is thought to be provided by head-direction cells, neurons that discharge when the animal's head points to a specific azimuth. However, it remains unclear whether a three-dimensional (3D) compass exists in the brain. Here we conducted neural recordings in bats, mammals well-adapted to 3D spatial behaviours, and found head-direction cells tuned to azimuth, pitch or roll, or to conjunctive combinations of 3D angles, in both crawling and flying bats. Head-direction cells were organized along a functional-anatomical gradient in the presubiculum, transitioning from 2D to 3D representations. In inverted bats, the azimuth-tuning of neurons shifted by 180 degrees, suggesting that 3D head direction is represented in azimuth x pitch toroidal coordinates. Consistent with our toroidal model, pitch-cell tuning was unimodal, circular, and continuous within the available 360 degrees of pitch. Taken together, these results demonstrate a 3D head-direction mechanism in mammals, which could support navigation in 3D space.
Details
- Title
- Three-dimensional head-direction coding in the bat brain
- Creators
- Arseny Finkelstein (null) - 972WIS_INST___123Dori Derdikman (null) - 972WIS_INST___123Alon Rubin (null) - 972WIS_INST___123Jakob N. Foerster (null)Liora Las (null) - 972WIS_INST___123Nachum Ulanovsky (null) - 972WIS_INST___123
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Nature, Vol.517(7533), pp.159-U65; Jan/2015
- Number of pages
- 25
- Language
- English
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14031
- Grant note
- European Research Council (ERC-NEUROBAT); Human Frontiers Science Program [HFSP RGP0062/2009-C]; Israel Science Foundation [ISF 1017/08, ISF 1319/13]; Minerva Foundation; Clore predoctoral excellence fellowship; MIT-Israel (MISTI) student exchange internshipWe thank A. Treves, J.-M. Fellous, M. Okun, A. Wallach, M. Geva-Sagiv and M. M. Yartsev for comments on the manuscript; B. Pasmantirer and G. Ankaoua for mechanical designs; S. Kaufman for bat training, assistance in neural recordings, and illustrations; T. Eliav and T. Tamir for help in experiments; A. Tuval and M. Weinberg for veterinary oversight; G. Brodsky for graphics; R. Eilam and C. Ra'anan for histology; and M. P. Witter for advice on reconstruction of tetrode-track locations and anatomical delineations. This study was supported by research grants to N.U. from the European Research Council (ERC-NEUROBAT), the Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP RGP0062/2009-C), the Israel Science Foundation (ISF 1017/08 and ISF 1319/13), and the Minerva Foundation; by a Clore predoctoral excellence fellowship to A.F.; and by an MIT-Israel (MISTI) student exchange internship to J.N.F. D.D. is the incumbent of the David and Inez Myers Career Advancement Chair in Life Sciences._ALMAME_DELIMITER_
- Record Identifier
- 993264803903596
Metrics
9 Record Views