The hippocampus as a spatial map. Preliminary evidence from unit activity in the freely-moving rat
John O'Keefe, Jonathan Dostrovsky
Summary
Using extracellular single-unit recordings from the hippocampus of freely moving rats, O'Keefe and Dostrovsky observed that certain neurons fired selectively when the animal occupied particular locations or orientations within the environment. They interpreted these spatially tuned responses as preliminary evidence that the hippocampus functions as a spatial map of the animal's surroundings. This brief report introduced the concept of hippocampal 'place cells' and seeded the cognitive-map theory of hippocampal function.
Key findings
- A subset of hippocampal units fired selectively as a function of the rat's spatial location and/or orientation in the environment.
- This location-specific activity was recorded in freely moving animals, linking hippocampal firing to the animal's position rather than to discrete sensory stimuli alone.
- The authors proposed that the hippocampus operates as a spatial map, providing the founding evidence for place cells and the cognitive-map theory.
Subjects & keywords
Cite this paper
John O'Keefe, & Jonathan Dostrovsky (1971). The hippocampus as a spatial map. Preliminary evidence from unit activity in the freely-moving rat. Brain Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-8993(71)90358-1
@article{okeefe1971hippocampus,
author = {John O'Keefe and Jonathan Dostrovsky},
title = {The hippocampus as a spatial map. Preliminary evidence from unit activity in the freely-moving rat},
journal = {Brain Research},
year = {1971},
doi = {10.1016/0006-8993(71)90358-1},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-8993(71)90358-1}
}