Adaptive modulation of theta sweeps in the brain’s navigation circuit
- 1Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience and Centre for Algorithms in the Cortex, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Abstract
Efficient navigation requires prioritizing information from behaviorally relevant locations. In rats, such selective sampling may arise from theta-paced sweeps in grid and place cell populations, which scan nearby space in a left-right alternating pattern coordinated by parasubicular direction signals. This alternation promotes uniform spatial coverage during exploration, but whether sweeps can be flexibly tuned to moment-to-moment demands remains unknown. Using large-scale Neuropixels recordings in freely behaving rats, we show that sweeps and direction signals are rapidly and dynamically modulated: They track moving targets during pursuit, precede orienting responses during immobility, and reverse during backward locomotion-all without prior spatial learning of goal locations. Comparable modulation occurs during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Together, these findings identify sweeps as a flexible, attention-like mechanism for selectively sampling allocentric cognitive maps.
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BibTeX
@article{vollan2026adaptive,
title = {{Adaptive modulation of theta sweeps in the brain’s navigation circuit}},
author = {Abraham Z. Vollan and Michael F. Schellenberger and Richard J. Gardner and May‐Britt Moser and Edvard Ingjald Moser},
journal = {Science},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1126/science.aef4184},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aef4184},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Adaptive modulation of theta sweeps in the brain’s navigation circuit
AU - Abraham Z. Vollan
AU - Michael F. Schellenberger
AU - Richard J. Gardner
AU - May‐Britt Moser
AU - Edvard Ingjald Moser
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/06
JO - Science
DO - 10.1126/science.aef4184
UR - https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aef4184
AB - Efficient navigation requires prioritizing information from behaviorally relevant locations. In rats, such selective sampling may arise from theta-paced sweeps in grid and place cell populations, which scan nearby space in a left-right alternating pattern coordinated by parasubicular direction signals. This alternation promotes uniform spatial coverage during exploration, but whether sweeps can be flexibly tuned to moment-to-moment demands remains unknown. Using large-scale Neuropixels recordings in freely behaving rats, we show that sweeps and direction signals are rapidly and dynamically modulated: They track moving targets during pursuit, precede orienting responses during immobility, and reverse during backward locomotion-all without prior spatial learning of goal locations. Comparable modulation occurs during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Together, these findings identify sweeps as a flexible, attention-like mechanism for selectively sampling allocentric cognitive maps.
SN - 0036-8075
SN - 0193-4511
SN - 1095-9203
ER -