Modeled grid cells aligned by a flexible attractor.

(with S. Benas and E. Kropff) Grid cells are a key component of the neural system for mapping the position of an individual within a physical environment. These entorhinal neurons fire in a characteristic hexagonal pattern of locations, and are organized in modules that collectively form a population code for the animal’s allocentric position. Whereas the population activity of grid cells in the same module lies in a toroidal manifold, the connectivity pattern of grid cells in the brain is still unknown. It is conjectured that the neural network of grid cells has also a toroidal architecture, inherited by the geometry of the attractor. In this work, we give a negative answer to this question for modeled grid cells.

Poster.