Isabella C Wagner, Luise Graichen, Boryana Todorova, Andre Luettig, David Omer, Matthias Stangl, Claus Lamm. Entorhinal grid-like codes and time-locked network dynamics track others navigating through space. bioRxiv 2022.10.08.511403; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.10.08.511403

Abstract
“Navigating through crowded, dynamically changing social 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. Further, 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, altogether modulated by accuracy when subsequently re-tracing the paths. This suggests that network dynamics time-locked to entorhinal grid-cell-related activity might serve to distribute information about the “socio-spatial map” throughout the brain.”

Isabella C Wagner, Luise Graichen, Boryana Todorova, Andre Luettig, David Omer, Matthias Stangl, Claus Lamm. Entorhinal grid-like codes and time-locked network dynamics track others navigating through space. bioRxiv 2022.10.08.511403; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.10.08.511403