Hippocampal Spike-Timing Correlations Lead to Hexagonal Grid Fields

Mauro M. Monsalve-Mercado and Christian Leibold

Index: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.038101

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Abstract

Space is represented in the mammalian brain by the activity of hippocampal place cells, as well as in their spike-timing correlations. Here, we propose a theory for how this temporal code is transformed to spatial firing rate patterns via spike-timing-dependent synaptic plasticity. The resulting dynamics of synaptic weights resembles well-known pattern formation models in which a lateral inhibition mechanism gives rise to a Turing instability. We identify parameter regimes in which hexagonal firing patterns develop as they have been found in medial entorhinal cortex.