Abstract
Space is represented in the mammalian brain by the activity of hippocampal place cells, as well as in their spike-timing correlations. Here, we propose a theory for how this temporal code is transformed to spatial firing rate patterns via spike-timing-dependent synaptic plasticity. The resulting dynamics of synaptic weights resembles well-known pattern formation models in which a lateral inhibition mechanism gives rise to a Turing instability. We identify parameter regimes in which hexagonal firing patterns develop as they have been found in medial entorhinal cortex.
- Received 10 February 2017
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.038101
© 2017 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Synopsis
Explaining Grid-Cell Firing
Published 19 July 2017
A model explains why grid cells—neurons that are part of the brain’s positioning system—fire electrical pulses in hexagonal patterns.
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