Journal Article

Extracting grid cell characteristics from place cell inputs using non-negative principal component analysis

Meir, Ron, Derdikman, Dori, Dordek, Yedidyah, Soudry, Daniel

2016

Overview

Many recent models study the downstream projection from grid cells to place cells, while recent data have pointed out the importance of the feedback projection. We thus asked how grid cells are affected by the nature of the input from the place cells. We propose a single-layer neural network with feedforward weights connecting place-like input cells to grid cell outputs. Place-to-grid weights are learned via a generalized Hebbian rule. The architecture of this network highly resembles neural networks used to perform Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Both numerical results and analytic considerations indicate that if the components of the feedforward neural network are non-negative, the output converges to a hexagonal lattice. Without the non-negativity constraint, the output converges to a square lattice. Consistent with experiments, grid spacing ratio between the first two consecutive modules is −1.4. Our results express a possible linkage between place cell to grid cell interactions and PCA. Long before the invention of GPS systems, ships used a technique called dead reckoning to navigate at sea. By tracking the ship’s speed and direction of movement away from a starting point, the crew could estimate their position at any given time. Many believe that some animals, including rats and humans, can use a similar process to navigate in the absence of external landmarks. This process is referred to as “path integration”. It is commonly believed that the brain’s navigation system is based on such path integration in two key regions: the entorhinal cortex and the hippocampus. Most models of navigation assume that a network of grid cells in the entorhinal cortex processes information about an animal’s speed and direction of movement. The grid cell network estimates the animal’s future position and relays this information to cells in the hippocampus called place cells. Individual place cells then fire whenever the animal reaches a specific location. However, recent work has shown that information also flows from place cells back to grid cells. Further experiments have suggested that place cells develop before grid cells. Also, inactivating place cells eliminates the hexagonal patterns that normally appear in the activity of the grid cells. Using a computational model, Dordek, Soudry et al. now show that place cell activity could in principle trigger the formation of the grid cell network, rather than vice versa. This is achieved using a process that resembles a common statistical algorithm called principal component analysis (PCA). However, this only works if place cells only excite grid cells and never inhibit their activity, similar to what is known from the anatomy of these brain regions. Under these circumstances, the model shows hexagonal patterns emerging in the activity of the grid cells, with similar properties to those patterns observed experimentally. These results suggest that navigation may not depend solely on grid cells processing information about speed and direction of movement, as assumed by path integration models. Instead grid cells may rely on position-based input from place cells. The next step is to create a single model that combines the flow of information from place cells to grid cells and vice versa.

• Publisher: eLife Sciences Publications Ltd,eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
• Subject: Algorithms / bat / Cell interactions / Computer Simulation / entorhinal / grid cell / Grid Cells - physiology / hippocampus / Hippocampus - physiology / navigation / Nerve Net / Neural networks / Neuroscience / place cell / Place Cells - physiology / Principal Component Analysis / Principal components analysis / Space Perception