title: Bat and rat neurons differ in theta-frequency resonance despite similar coding of space.
abstract: Both bats and rats exhibit grid cells in medial entorhinal cortex that fire as they visit a regular array of spatial locations. In rats, grid-cell firing field properties correlate with theta-frequency rhythmicity of spiking and membrane-potential resonance; however, bat grid cells do not exhibit theta rhythmic spiking, generating controversy over the role of theta rhythm. To test whether this discrepancy reflects differences in rhythmicity at a cellular level, we performed whole-cell patch recordings from entorhinal neurons in both species to record theta-frequency resonance. Bat neurons showed no theta-frequency resonance, suggesting grid-cell coding via different mechanisms in bats and rats or lack of theta rhythmic contributions to grid-cell firing in either species.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Center for Memory and Brain, Boston University, 2 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA. jimheys@bu.edu
authors.forename: James G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Heys
authors.forename: Katrina M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: MacLeod
authors.forename: Cynthia F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Moss
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Hasselmo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera; D018728:Entorhinal Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D013826:Theta Rhythm