Abstract
This project will investigate the post-natal development of the neural map of space in the hippocampus, testing the roles of sensory experience and experience-independent, pre-configured networks in the assembly of neural circuits for navigation. The project will make use of two recently available technologies: 1) wireless technology will be used to conduct neural recordings in natural environments, investigating the role of sensory experience in development, 2) longitudinal 2-photon imaging will be used to track the activity of hippocampal networks before and after they display spatial tuning, testing for the presence of experience independent activity patterns.
References
- Muessig L, Hauser J, Wills TJ, Cacucci F (2015) A Developmental Switch in Place Cell Accuracy Coincides with Grid Cell Maturation. Neuron 86 (5):1167-73.
- Tan HM, Bassett JP, O’Keefe J, Cacucci F, Wills TJ (2015) The development of the head direction system before eye opening in the rat. Curr Biol 25(4):479-83.
- Wills TJ, Barry C, Cacucci F (2012) The abrupt development of adult-like grid cell firing in the medial entorhinal cortex. Front Neural Circuits: 6:21. PMID: 22557949.
- Wills TJ, Cacucci F, Burgess N, O’Keefe J (2010) Development of the hippocampal cognitive map in preweanling rats. Science, 328:1573-6.