Hippocampal Spike-Timing Correlations Lead to Hexagonal Grid Fields

Abstract

Space is represented in the mammalian brain by the activity of hippocampal place cells as well as in their spike-timing correlations. Here we propose a theory how this temporal code is transformed to spatial firing rate patterns via spike-timing-dependent synaptic plasticity. The resulting dynamics of synaptic weights resembles well-known pattern formation models in which a lateral inhibition mechanism gives rise to a Turing instability. We identify parameter regimes in which hexagonal firing patterns develop as they have been found in medial entorhinal cortex.

Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters

References in corpus (1)

• Accurate path integration in continuous attractor network models of grid cells