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PreprintCC BY-NC-NDbioRxiv

Brainwide representation of navigation

  • E. H. van Beest1
  • B. Terry
  • G. Booth
  • K. D. Harris
  • M. Carandini
  1. 1University College London
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Abstract

Tracking your position in the environment during navigation requires integrating multiple signals into a spatial representation. This process is thought to occur primarily in the hippocampal formation, but evidence for it has also been observed in other regions. To investigate it across the brain, we recorded from over 20,000 neurons in mice navigating a virtual corridor that decoupled position from correlated signals. Spatial position was encoded in every region, and was more common in neurons tuned to visual landmarks. Most neurons brainwide were also modulated by running speed, likely reflecting arousal, and many by rewards. The hippocampal formation represented spatial position slightly more uniformly than other regions, but less precisely than visual cortex. Spatial position and other navigational signals are thus represented widely across the brain.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{beest2026brainwide,
  title = {{Brainwide representation of navigation}},
  author = {E. H. van Beest and B. Terry and G. Booth and K. D. Harris and M. Carandini},
  howpublished = {bioRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.64898/2026.08.29.747979},
  url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.29.747979v1},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Brainwide representation of navigation
AU  - E. H. van Beest
AU  - B. Terry
AU  - G. Booth
AU  - K. D. Harris
AU  - M. Carandini
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/29
PB  - bioRxiv
DO  - 10.64898/2026.08.29.747979
UR  - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.29.747979v1
AB  - Tracking your position in the environment during navigation requires integrating multiple signals into a spatial representation. This process is thought to occur primarily in the hippocampal formation, but evidence for it has also been observed in other regions. To investigate it across the brain, we recorded from over 20,000 neurons in mice navigating a virtual corridor that decoupled position from correlated signals. Spatial position was encoded in every region, and was more common in neurons tuned to visual landmarks. Most neurons brainwide were also modulated by running speed, likely reflecting arousal, and many by rewards. The hippocampal formation represented spatial position slightly more uniformly than other regions, but less precisely than visual cortex. Spatial position and other navigational signals are thus represented widely across the brain.
ER  -