Aging destabilizes egocentric boundary cells in the retrosplenial cortex of mice
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Abstract
The retrosplenial cortex is involved in generating spatial representations from specialized cells within an egocentric frame. Within the retrosplenial cortex, egocentric boundary cells encode this spatial information and it is known that these cells show tuning to boundaries and that they also exhibit spatial stability. However, the spatial properties of egocentric boundary cells with aging has not been fully characterized and understood. In order to identify and characterize the spatial properties of egocentric boundary cells with aging, this study took in vivo one-photon calcium imaging recordings in the retrosplenial cortex as mice explored an open field arena. This study imaged young wild-type mice, old wild-type mice, as well as young PS19 mice. Young PS19 mice show spatial impairments at a young age and, therefore, were used to examine if any similarities exist between these mice and old wild-type mice. The results of this study qualitatively validate the identification and characterization of egocentric boundary cells as their spatial properties showed robust tuning and spatial stability for young wild-type mice. As expected, loss of tuning and spatial instability was illustrated with old wild-type mice and young PS19 mice and they show similar tuning and spatial instability patterns.