Neuroscience Seminar Series: Holger Dannenberg

Neural dynamics underlying the coding of location and running speed in the medial entorhinal cortex 

Abstract 

Neuronal representations of spatial location and movement speed in the medial entorhinal cortex during the ‘active’ theta state of the brain are important for memory-guided navigation and path integration—the integration of linear and angular speed signals to update self-location on a cognitive map. However, the exact nature of such a speed signal in the brain remains elusive. Moreover, little is known about the contribution of cholinergic modulation and the contribution of sensory cues to neural activity underlying memory-guided navigation. 

Our lab uses multiple single unit recordings of neurons the medial entorhinal cortex of freely behaving mice to investigate temporal dynamics in the coding of location and running speed. We further use fiber photometry to measure the activity of cholinergic neurons in the medial septal complex to study temporal dynamics in cholinergic activity.  

Presented by Mason's Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience

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