Position and distance coding in medial entorhinal cortex

Our research group is interested in how animals navigate in their environment to find food, shelters or partners. In the brain, the hippocampal formation is essential for navigation and spatial memory and contains a constellation of spatially modulated neurons such as place cells in the hippocampus or grid cells in medial entorhinal cortex. These types of cells fire when the animal is at a specific position in the environment, providing a map or a representation of the environment at the level of the population. Using mice navigating in virtual reality, we recently found that, in environments impoverished in visual cues, hippocampal place cells code for the distance travelled as they fire at the same distance from the start of the run (distance coding). In visually rich environments however, they can then develop a code for the absolute position in the environment as they fire at the same position in the environment irrespective from the start of the run (position coding). Our goal is to look for such coding in the medial entorhinal cortex, especially in superficial layers that project heavily to the hippocampus. To do so, electrophysiological recordings of the medial entorhinal cortex will be done in mice navigating in virtual environments.
This study will help to understand the genesis of distance and position coding in the hippocampal formation and the way spatial information (external, from the outside world) and internal (linked to our own movements) are integrated in hippocampal networks to generate efficient navigation.

We are looking for a highly motivated and easy-going student interested in electrophysiological recordings in behaving mice. An interest in programming is needed.

INMED is located on the Luminy campus a few minutes from the Calanques. It is one of the most important neuroscience research center in France gathering 130 researchers, teacher-researchers and engineers, of international origin. The main research topics are brain development and plasticity, as well as associated neurological pathologies.