NEURAL BASIS OF INTERNAL REPRESENTATION OF PLACE

空间定向与学习的神经基础研究 啮齿类动物目前为理论提供了一个很好的试验场， 既关注高级认知处理在大脑中如何进行， 神经系统和生物物理动力学的联想记忆 在神经网络中。 海马结构中的神经元不仅 构建空间位置的分布式表示， 方向，但也有能力回忆这些 当可用的感官信息被 不完整 皮层结构中的神经元与 海马体似乎可以记录动物在空间中的方位 独立于位置，部分是通过在 视觉地标和角速度信息的积分. 其中至少有一些起源于前庭系统。 最后， 后顶叶皮层的神经元似乎编码了 空间位置和空间中特定运动之间的相互作用 这样的方式可以使内部代表的 环境不同部分之间的关系。 提出的研究代表了正在进行的神经生理学研究的扩展。 记录单个神经元的小集合的研究 在空间行为过程中， 大鼠 主要目标是明确了解神经 这些高级空间计算的交互作用 进行，更普遍的是，提供一个概念和经验 理解损害或损失的破坏性后果的框架 人类大脑中这些结构的功能障碍。

The study of the neural basis of spatial orientation and learning in rodents is currently providing an excellent testing ground for theories concerned both with how higher cognitive processing is carried out in the nervous system and with the biophysical dynamics of associative memory in neural networks. Neurons in the hippocampal formation appear not only to construct distributed representations of spatial location and orientation, but also to have the capability to recall these representations from memory when available sensory information is incomplete. Neurons in cortical structures intimately associated with the hippocampus appear to keep track of the animal's orientation in space independently of location, partly by making dynamic associations between visual landmarks and the integral of angular velocity information, at least some of which originates in the vestibular system. Finally, neurons in the posterior parietal cortex appear to code for the interaction between spatial location and specific movements in space in such a way as could enable the internal representation of the relationships among different parts of the environment. The studies proposed represent extensions of ongoing neurophysiological investigations in which small ensembles of single neurons are recorded from the aforementioned cortical structures during spatial behavior in rats. The principal goals are specifically to understand the neural interactions through which these high-level spatial computations are carried out, and more generally, to provide a conceptual and empirical framework for understanding the devastating consequences of damage or dysfunction in these structures in the human brain.