title: Scene-selective coding by single neurons in the human parahippocampal cortex.
abstract: Imaging, electrophysiological, and lesion studies have shown a relationship between the parahippocampal cortex (PHC) and the processing of spatial scenes. Our present knowledge of PHC, however, is restricted to the macroscopic properties and dynamics of bulk tissue; the behavior and selectivity of single parahippocampal neurons remains largely unknown. In this study, we analyzed responses from 630 parahippocampal neurons in 24 neurosurgical patients during visual stimulus presentation. We found a spatially clustered subpopulation of scene-selective units with an associated event-related field potential. These units form a population code that is more distributed for scenes than for other stimulus categories, and less sparse than elsewhere in the medial temporal lobe. Our electrophysiological findings provide insight into how individual units give rise to the population response observed with functional imaging in the parahippocampal place area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany; florian.mormann@ukb.uni-bonn.de.|Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125.|Department of Neurosurgery and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mormann
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125.|Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kornblith
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125.|Department of Neurosurgery and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095.|Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208.
authors.forename: Moran
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cerf
authors.affiliation: Centre for Systems Neuroscience and Department of Engineering, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7QR, United Kingdom.|School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Matias J
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2937-8069
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ison
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125.|Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kraskov
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.affiliation: Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Simeon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Knieling
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125.|Centre for Systems Neuroscience and Department of Engineering, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7QR, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quian Quiroga
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125.|Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109.
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery and Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095.|Functional Neurosurgery Unit, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv 64239, Israel.|Functional Neurosurgery Unit, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv 64239, Israel.
authors.forename: Itzhak
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fried
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018728:Entorhinal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D004777:Environment; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D020534:Parahippocampal Gyrus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: electrophysiology; population code; scene selectivity; single units