Place cells, grid cells, border cells and head direction cells are the main spatial cells in the hippocampal formation and provide the basic units for the hippocampal cognitive map. However, their interrelationship and roles they play in navigation are still not well understood.

We are interested in finding the causal relationship between the spatial cells in the hippocampus and parahippocampal formation and their role in navigation. We will record from a large ensemble of neurons and selectively perturb defined interconnected hippocampal circuits while an animal is navigating in the virtual as well as real environments. We will investigate how these perturbations affect an animal's ability to find reward locations.

Department webpage