Place-cell coding in flying birds

Summary 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.