# Behavioral and circuit manipulations of directional tuning in Subiculum

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2024 · $446,627

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Defining the forms of neural representation and temporal dynamics of neuron ensembles in the
hippocampus and related neocortical regions such as retrosplenial and entorhinal cortex has led
to a deep understanding of the brain’s ‘cognitive map’ of the environment. Such work has direct
relevance to understanding the pathologies and cognitive impairments attending neurological
disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease as well as intact learning and memory processes
associated with navigation, episodic memory, and orienting. The dorsal subiculum is highly
interconnected with these brain structures and important for normal spatial cognition, yet the
unique contributions it makes to the cognitive map and flexible navigation behavior have yet to
be defined. Prior work has suggested that subicular neurons are far less spatially-specific in
their firing activity than those of hippocampal area CA1, a brain region forming a prominent input
to subiculum. A role for subiculum in encoding and learning orientational relationships between
an organism and its environment has been suggested and is consistent with its receiving input
from the anterior thalamus. A major output target for subiculum is the retrosplenial cortex, a
region that contains neurons with left/right turn-related activity and which has been
hypothesized to form a transition of spatial cognition into action through projections to
secondary motor cortex. Our project is designed to systematically investigate orientation tuning
in the subiculum within environments where navigation is constrained to a network of
interconnected pathways. More specifically, we will examine the question of whether individual
subiculum neurons can encode multiple directions of travel as observed in preliminary data. The
experiments also address context-dependence and learning in orientation tuning. The work will
have implications for theories on function of the brain’s cognitive map. It is poised to identify a
system by which environmental locations affording transitions between two or more directions of
travel can be encoded with directional signals, which could drive left/right turning actions via
outputs to retrosplenial cortex. More broadly, the project is poised to form a new direction for
study of subicular function and the role of multi-directional tuning in spatial cognition.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10988639
- **Project number:** 1R21MH135321-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Douglas Arthur Nitz
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $446,627
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-01 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10988639

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10988639, Behavioral and circuit manipulations of directional tuning in Subiculum (1R21MH135321-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-08-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10988639. Licensed CC0.

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