Place-cell coding in flying birds.

Abstract

A research article recently published in PNAS by Agarwal and colleagues (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(5), Article e2212418120, 2023) identified place cells in the brain of flying birds, specifically in the anterior hippocampus and in a neighbouring region, the posterior hyperpallium apicale, with fewer detected in a more distant visual area. In contrast to mammalian place cells, these avian place cells changed based on the direction of flight.