Neural circuits for goal-directed navigation across species

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The hippocampus of vertebrates and the central complex of insects are both engaged by navigational tasks that require spatial memory or inference.

The hippocampus builds flexible place maps of both real and abstract spaces.

The insect central complex comprises ordered arrays of cells that are well suited to encode and compute with vectors. Both the hippocampus and central complex feature heading-direction signals based on ring attractor networks, and both structures receive input from partially segregated 'where' and 'what' pathways.

Current understanding of the differences between vertebrate and invertebrate navigational systems might reflect ecological, historical, and methodological differences.

 Future comparative approaches will help to reveal fundamental relationships between brain circuits and navigational and cognitive abilities across species.

https://www.cell.com/trends/neurosciences/fulltext/S0166-2236(24)00177-2

https://sciencemission.ayurmatrika.com/Neural-circuits-for-goal-directed-navigation-across-species