Rapid response of head direction cells to reorienting visual cues: a computational model

Abstract In this model of the head direction cells in the limbic areas of the rat brain, the intrinsic dynamics of the system is determined by a continuous attractor network of spiking neurons. Synaptic excitation is mediated by NMDA and AMPA formal receptors, while inhibition depends on GABA receptors. We focus on the temporal aspects of state transitions of the system following reorientation of visual cues. The model reproduces the short latencies (80 ms ) observed in recordings of the anterodorsal thalamic nucleus. The model makes an experimentally testable prediction concerning the state update dynamics as a function of the magnitude of the reorientation angle.

[1]  J. Taube.  Head direction cells and the neurophysiological basis for a sense of direction , 1998, Progress in Neurobiology.

[2]  K. Zhang,et al.  Representation of spatial orientation by the intrinsic dynamics of the head-direction cell ensemble: a theory , 1996, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[3]  G. G. Stokes.  "J." , 1890, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[4]  Angelo Arleo,et al.  Spatial orientation in navigating agents: Modeling head-direction cells , 2001, Neurocomputing.

[5]  A. P. Georgopoulos,et al.  Neuronal population coding of movement direction. , 1986, Science.

[6]  P. Goldman-Rakic,et al.  Synaptic mechanisms and network dynamics underlying spatial working memory in a cortical network model. , 2000, Cerebral cortex.

[7]  Henry C. Tuckwell,et al.  Introduction to theoretical neurobiology , 1988 .

[8]  D. Wilkin,et al.  Neuron , 2001, Brain Research.

[9]  J. Herskowitz,et al.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA , 1996, Current Biology.

[10]  J. van Loon.  Network , 2006 .

[11]  J. Bassett,et al.  Neural Correlates for Angular Head Velocity in the Rat Dorsal Tegmental Nucleus , 2001, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[12]  A Berthoz,et al.  A neural network model of sensoritopic maps with predictive short-term memory properties. , 1991, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[13]  B. McNaughton,et al.  Interactions between idiothetic cues and external landmarks in the control of place cells and head direction cells. , 1998, Journal of neurophysiology.

[14]  R. Galamboš,et al.  Temporal distribution of the ganglion cell volleys in the normal rat optic nerve. , 2000, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[15]  H. T. Blair,et al.  Role of the Lateral Mammillary Nucleus in the Rat Head Direction Circuit A Combined Single Unit Recording and Lesion Study , 1998, Neuron.

[16]  E. G. Jones.  Cerebral Cortex , 1987, Cerebral Cortex.

[17]  A. Berthoz,et al.  Rapid Spatial Reorientation and Head Direction Cells , 2003, The Journal of Neuroscience.