Neural encoding of large-scale three-dimensional space—properties and constraints

1. Front Psychol. 2015 Jul 14;6:927. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00927. eCollection
2015.

Neural encoding of large-scale three-dimensional space-properties and
constraints.

Jeffery KJ(1), Wilson JJ(1), Casali G(1), Hayman RM(2).

Author information:
(1)Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, Research Department of Experimental
Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College
London , London, UK.
(2)Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain
Sciences, University College London , London, UK.

How the brain represents represent large-scale, navigable space has been the
topic of intensive investigation for several decades, resulting in the discovery
that neurons in a complex network of cortical and subcortical brain regions
co-operatively encode distance, direction, place, movement etc. using a variety
of different sensory inputs. However, such studies have mainly been conducted in
simple laboratory settings in which animals explore small, two-dimensional
(i.e., flat) arenas. The real world, by contrast, is complex and three
dimensional with hills, valleys, tunnels, branches, and-for species that can
swim or fly-large volumetric spaces. Adding an additional dimension to space
adds coding challenges, a primary reason for which is that several basic
geometric properties are different in three dimensions. This article will
explore the consequences of these challenges for the establishment of a
functional three-dimensional metric map of space, one of which is that the
brains of some species might have evolved to reduce the dimensionality of the
representational space and thus sidestep some of these problems.

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00927
PMCID: PMC4501222
PMID: 26236246

Auteurs Bordeaux Neurocampus