There are several navigational cells in the brain that are either in the hippocampus itself or are strongly connected to it, such as the speed cells present in the medial entorhinal cortex. Together these cells form a network that serves as spatial memory. The first of such cells discovered in the 1970s were the place cells, which led to the idea of the hippocampus acting to give a neural representation of the environment in a cognitive map. When the hippocampus is dysfunctional, orientation is affected; people may have difficulty in remembering how they arrived at a location and how to proceed further. Getting lost is a common symptom of amnesia. Studies with animals have shown that an intact hippocampus is required for initial learning and long-term retention of some spatial memory tasks, in particular ones that require finding the way to a hidden goal. Other cells have been discovered since the finding of the place cells in the rodent brain that are either in the hippocampus or the entorhinal cortex. These have been assigned as head direction cells, grid cells and boundary cells. Speed cells are thought to provide input to the hippocampal grid cells.
There are several navigational cells in the brain that are either in the hippocampus itself or are strongly connected to it such as the speed cells present in the medial entorhinal cortex Together these cells form a network that serves as spatial memory The first of such cells discovered in the 1970s were the place cells which led to the idea of the hippocampus acting to give a neural representation of the environment in a cognitive map When the hippocampus is dysfunctional orientation is affected; people may have difficulty in remembering how they arrived at a location and how to proceed further Getting lost is a common symptom of amnesia Studies with animals have shown that an intact hippocampus is required for initial learning and long-term retention of some spatial memory tasks in particular ones that require finding the way to a hidden goal Other cells have been discovered since the finding of the place cells in the rodent brain that are either in the hippocampus or the entorhinal cortex These have been assigned as head direction cells grid cells and boundary cells Speed cells are thought to provide input to the hippocampal grid cells