Place-cell capacity and volatility with grid-like inputs

Abstract

What factors constrain the arrangement of the multiple fields of a place cell? By modeling place cells as perceptrons that act on multiscale periodic grid-cell inputs, we analytically enumerate a place cell’s repertoire – how many field arrangements it can realize without external cues while its grid inputs are unique – and derive its capacity – the spatial range over which it can achieve any field arrangement. We show that the repertoire is very large and relatively noise-robust. However, the repertoire is a vanishing fraction of all arrangements, while capacity scales only as the sum of the grid periods so field arrangements are constrained over larger distances. Thus, grid-driven place field arrangements define a large response scaffold that is strongly constrained by its structured inputs. Finally, we show that altering grid-place weights to generate an arbitrary new place field strongly affects existing arrangements, which could explain the volatility of the place code.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
May 24, 2021
Source ID
10.7554/elife.62702

Entities

People

  • Ila R Fiete
  • Lorenzo Sadun
  • Man Yi Yim
  • Thibaud Taillefumier

Organizations

  • Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Office of Naval Research
  • Simons Foundation
  • University of Texas at Austin

Tags

Readers

  • Agent-Based Social Robotics and Mobile-Assisted Learning in Virtual Environments.
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Theoretical Analysis.