Speaker: Prof. Edmund T. RollsUniversity of Oxford, UKUniversity of Warwick, UK Fudan University, China

Time: 14:30-15:30 p.m., Sep 24, 2024, GMT+8

Venue: Room B101, Lui Che Woo Building, PKU

Abstract: 

Hippocampal and parahippocampal gyrus spatial view neurons in primates respond to external spatial locations, showing an allocentric representation that remains invariant to retinal position, eye position, head direction, and individual location (Rolls 2023). In humans, connectivity involves pathways from V1-V4 through prostriate cortex and ventromedial visual cortical regions to the parahippocampal scene area (Rolls et al 2024; Rolls 2024). This supports the theory that scene representations are formed by spatial view cells integrating overlapping feature inputs. Inferior temporal cortex object “what” inputs and orbitofrontal cortex reward inputs connect to hippocampal system, where spatial view cells represent "where," contributing to implement episodic memory. The presence of foveate vision and the highly developed temporal lobe for object and scene processing in primates highlight the importance of hippocampal spatial view cells in understanding episodic memory in hippocampus, and the roles of this system in navigation. This revolution in our understanding of hippocampal system function in primates including humans compared to rodents is incorporated into recent advances in our understanding of the computations performed by the hippocampal system (Rolls and Treves 2024, Rolls 2022).

Source: McGovern Institute for Brain Research at PKU