Adaptive modulation of theta sweeps in the brain's navigation circuit

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Vollan, Abraham Z.; Schellenberger, Michael F.; Gardner, Richard J.; Moser, May-Britt; Moser, Edvard I.
• 署名单位: Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU)
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aef4184
• 发表日期: 2026-08-06
• 页码: eaef4184
• 关键词: MONKEY CEREBRAL-CORTEX; BEHAVIORAL ENHANCEMENT; VISUAL RESPONSES; spatial map; attention; direction; cells; pattern; SEQUENCES; WHISKING

摘要

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.