The contribution of the associative parietal cortex and hippocampus to spatial processing in rodents

Abstract

A growing volume of data supports the notion that the associative parietal cortex (APC) in rodents plays an important role in the processing of spatial information. The present paper reviews the literature and available data, emphasizing the respective contribution of the APC and the hippocampus to spatial processing. It is proposed that the APC has a function of interfacing between the egocentric and allocentric coding of space. According to this view, the APC would associate visuospatial and internal movement- related information and thus would mediate the integration of multiple egocentric frames of reference into allocentric spatial representations. The allocentric coding of space would be completed and implemented in the hippocampal formation.