A computational model of formation of grid field and theta phase precession in the entorhinal cells

Abstract

This paper proposes a computational model of spatiooral property formation in the entorhinal neurons recently known as "grid cells". The model consists of module structures for local path integration, multiple sensory integration and for theta phase coding of grid fields. Theta phase precession naturally encodes the spatial information in theta phase. The proposed module structures have good agreement with head direction cells and grid cells in the entorhinal cortex. The functional role of theta phase coding in the entorhinal cortex for cognitive map formation in the hippocampus is discussed. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.