Speaker：Sylvia Wirth，Professor, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France

Time： Sep. 24, 15:30--16:30

Venue：Room B101, Lui Che Woo Building（吕志和楼）

Host：Prof Yuji Naya

Abstract

Humans primarily rely on vision for navigation in spatial environments. To investigate how the brain constructs spatial representations that guide animal behavior during navigation, we use virtual reality to examine the behavioral and neuronal representation of space in macaque navigation. Focusing on the parietal cortex, known for controlling eye movements and visuospatial attention, and the hippocampus, which is thought to represent a cognitive map of space, our research aims to address how these regions interact during navigation. By comparing parietal and hippocampal activities, we reveal how functional "place" selectivity arises from active navigation. We found that the parietal cortex exhibits greater visual and positional selectivity than the hippocampus, reflecting its sensitivity to specific visual input. Additionally, population position maps of parietal and hippocampal cells support a functional partition of space. And memory-based representations were identified in the posterior parietal cortex, in addition to the hippocampus. The results support a functional division between the two regions defined by distinct cell properties, driven by a shared memory framework that extends beyond the field of view.

Bio

Professor Sylvia Wirth’s research focuses on the neural basis of spatial memory in the macaque hippocampal system, using behavioral tasks in a virtual reality environment.