title: Development of the spatial representation system in the rat.
abstract: In the adult brain, space and orientation are represented by an elaborate hippocampal-parahippocampal circuit consisting of head-direction cells, place cells, and grid cells. We report that a rudimentary map of space is already present when 2 1/2-week-old rat pups explore an open environment outside the nest for the first time. Head-direction cells in the pre- and parasubiculum have adultlike properties from the beginning. Place and grid cells are also present but evolve more gradually. Grid cells show the slowest development. The gradual refinement of the spatial representation is accompanied by an increase in network synchrony among entorhinal stellate cells. The presence of adultlike directional signals at the onset of navigation raises the possibility that such signals are instrumental in setting up networks for place and grid representation.
authors.affiliation: Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience and Centre for the Biology of Memory, Medical Technical Research Center, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Olav Kyrres gate 9, 7489 Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Rosamund F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Langston
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ainge
authors.forename: Jonathan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Couey
authors.forename: Cathrin B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Canto
authors.forename: Tale L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Bjerknes
authors.forename: Menno P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Witter
authors.forename: Edvard I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Moser
authors.forename: May-Britt
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Moser
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D056547:CA1 Region, Hippocampal / Q000502:physiology*; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D018728:Entorhinal Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009949:Orientation; D020534:Parahippocampal Gyrus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D013028:Space Perception; D013037:Spatial Behavior