1. Entorhinal grid-like codes and time-locked network dynamics track others navigating through space
- Author
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Wagner, Isabella C, Graichen, Luise P, Todorova, Boryana, Lüttig, Andre, Omer, David B, Stangl, Matthias, and Lamm, Claus
- Subjects
Biological Psychology ,Information and Computing Sciences ,Psychology ,Neurosciences ,1.1 Normal biological development and functioning ,Underpinning research ,Mental health ,Humans ,Brain ,Computer Systems ,Corpus Striatum ,Entorhinal Cortex ,Head - Abstract
Navigating through crowded, dynamically changing environments requires the ability to keep track of other individuals. Grid cells in the entorhinal cortex are a central component of self-related navigation but whether they also track others' movement is unclear. Here, we propose that entorhinal grid-like codes make an essential contribution to socio-spatial navigation. Sixty human participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while observing and re-tracing different paths of a demonstrator that navigated a virtual reality environment. Results revealed that grid-like codes in the entorhinal cortex tracked the other individual navigating through space. The activity of grid-like codes was time-locked to increases in co-activation and entorhinal-cortical connectivity that included the striatum, the hippocampus, parahippocampal and right posterior parietal cortices. Surprisingly, the grid-related effects during observation were stronger the worse participants performed when subsequently re-tracing the demonstrator's paths. Our findings suggests that network dynamics time-locked to entorhinal grid-cell-related activity might serve to distribute information about the location of others throughout the brain.
- Published
- 2023