As shown in (Nitz and McNaughton, 2004 in J Neurophysiol.) paper, during the
first visit to a new environment, a significant number of CA1 theta cells turn off their
inhibitory action. Their suggestion is that maybe CA1 interneurons could be part of a broader system that detects new from familiar environments. Now, recalling the connectivity architecture between EC and Hippocampus, CA1 connects in a feed-forward fashion with EC deep layers, so maybe EC grid cells receive information about new locations in space through CA1 projections (see Castro and Aguiar, 2014 in Biological Cybernetics).
What is needed is a brain mechanism (not just an anatomical location)that can actually detect a new environmental location and signal the difference in its egocentric coordinates. See "Modeling the World, Locating the Self, and Selective Attention: The Retinoid System" and "Analysis and Representation of Object Relations"on my RG page.
"What is needed is a brain mechanism (not just an anatomical location)that can actually detect a new environmental location"
What is needed in the first place is a non-brain mechanism, sense organs that are designed to detect position in space. How about the vestibular system?
Yes,the vestibular system provides the necessary signals to anchor the direction of the gravitational down and its orthogonal horizontal axis in retinoid space. Left and right (X-axis), up and down (Y-axis), and near and far (Z-axis) are given by the neuronal structure and dynamics of the retinoid mechanisms.
- Badges
- Science topic