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bioRxiv · 10.1101/212852

Head-Direction drift in rat pups is consistent with an angular path-integration process

Derdikman, D.·Tocker, G.·Borodach, E.·Bjerknes, T. L.·Moser, M.-B.·Moser, E. I.
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Abstract

The sense of direction is a vital computation, whose neural basis is considered to be carried out by head-direction cells. One way to estimate head-direction is by integrating head angular-velocity over time. However, this process results in error accumulation resembling a random walk, proportional to [Formula], which constitutes a mark for a path integration process. In the present study we analyzed previously recorded data to quantify the drift in head-direction cells of rat pups before and after eye-opening. We found that in rat pups before eye-opening the drift propagated as a random walk, while in rats after eye-opening the drift was lower. This suggests that a path-integration process underlies the estimation of head-direction, such that before eye-opening the head-direction system runs in an open-loop manner and accumulates error. After eye-opening, visual-input, such as arena shape, helps to correct errors and thus compute the sense of direction accurately.

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Derdikman, D., Tocker, G., Borodach, E., Bjerknes, T. L., Moser, M.-B., Moser, E. I.. 2017-11-01. Head-Direction drift in rat pups is consistent with an angular path-integration process. https://doi.org/10.1101/212852

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