Fig. 7: Neural circuit mechanisms underlying object exploration-dependent place cell (oePC) representations.
From: Conjunctive encoding of exploratory intentions and spatial information in the hippocampus
a Schematic of AAV-hSyn-mCherry injection into the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC). b Lap-average activity map differences between exploration (Expl.) and non-exploration (Non-expl.) laps of oePCs before and after injection of clozapine-N-oxide (CNO). c The oePCs show no significant changes in normalized activity during exploration after saline (blue, P = 0.439) or CNO treatments (red, P = 0.390; two-sided paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test). The spatial correlation (P = 0.303; two-sided, two-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test), changes in the center of mass (ΔCOM; P = 0.926; two-sided Mann-Whitney U Test), or difference index (P = 0.312; Kruskal-Wallis H test) was comparable after saline (n = 26) and CNO injection (n = 22 in 6 mice). d Similar experiments were performed with bilateral LEC infusion of hM4Di-containing AAV. e Lap-average activity map differences between exploration and non-exploration laps of oePCs before and after injection of CNO in hM4Di-expressing mice. f The oePC activity exhibited significant decrease after CNO (P = 4.61 × 10−5) but not saline injection (P = 0.568; two-sided paired Wilcoxon signed rank test). Significant changes were observed in spatial correlation (P = 0.0072; two-sided, two-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test), ΔCOM (P = 0.013, two-sided Mann-Whitney U Test), and difference index after CNO injection (P = 2.01 × 10−6; Kruskal-Wallis H test; n = 22 in 5 mice) compared to saline (n = 24). *** for P < 0.001, ** for P < 0.01, * for P < 0.05, and NS for no significance. Box plots show the median (horizontal line), 25–75% range (box) and outliers (whiskers). Data and statistical analyses are reported in the Source Data file.
