Spatial Foraging Task
Objective: To investigate how hippocampal place fields and thalamic head direction cells are controlled by salient sensory cues, and whether the rat's learned perception of cue stability affects cue control over these neural representations
Gather these items before starting the experiment. Check off items as you prepare.
Equipment2
Materials1
not specified • not specified • not specified • not specified
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Protocol Steps
Divide rats into two experimental groups
Separate rats into two groups based on disorientation protocol during training
Note: Group 1: disoriented before placement in cylinder. Group 2: not disoriented before placement in cylinder
View evidence from paper
“Half of the rats were disoriented before being placed in the cylinder, in order to disrupt their internal sense of direction. The other half were not disoriented”
Train disoriented group in cylinder
Place disoriented rats in gray cylinder with white directional cue card and allow them to forage for food pellets
Note: Disorientation disrupts internal sense of direction, creating inconsistent relationship between cue card and internal direction sense
View evidence from paper
“Half of the rats were disoriented before being placed in the cylinder, in order to disrupt their internal sense of direction”
Train non-disoriented group in cylinder
Place non-disoriented rats in gray cylinder with white directional cue card and allow them to forage for food pellets
Note: For these rats, there was presumably a consistent relationship between the cue card and their internal direction sense
View evidence from paper
“The other half were not disoriented before being placed in the cylinder; for these rats, there was presumably a consistent relationship between the cue card and their internal direction sense”
Disorientation before recording sessions
Disoriented all rats before recording neural activity
Note: All rats were disoriented before recording sessions to standardize conditions
View evidence from paper
“All rats were disoriented before recording”
Record hippocampal place cells and thalamic head direction cells
Record neural activity from hippocampal place cells and thalamic head direction cells as rats moved in the cylinder
Note: Recording conducted in both groups of rats
View evidence from paper
“We subsequently recorded hippocampal place cells and thalamic head direction cells from both groups of rats as they moved in the cylinder”
Rotate cylinder and cue card between sessions
Between some recording sessions, rotate both the cylinder and cue card to a new direction
Note: This manipulation tests whether neural representations follow the cue card or maintain their original orientation
View evidence from paper
“between some sessions the cylinder and cue card were rotated to a new direction”