, 2008). Complementing the change in the integrative properties of these neurons, the temporal dynamics of action potentials change along the dorsoventral axis, with the time constant of the spike after-hyperpolarization CT99021 manufacturer shifting from fast in dorsal

to slow in ventral (Boehlen et al., 2010 and Navratilova et al., 2011). The dorsoventral organization in spike repolarization time constants supports predictions from a recent attractor model including temporal dynamics to explain phase precession and grid spacing (Navratilova et al., 2011). Both resonant and temporal-integrative properties depend on the presence of Ih (Giocomo and Hasselmo, 2009), which has a topographical organization in kinetics and density along the dorsoventral axis (Garden et al., 2008 and Giocomo and Hasselmo, 2008b). Recent in vivo recordings indicate that properties dependent on Ih play a role in determining grid cell spacing (Giocomo et al., 2011). Mice that lack a subunit important for the conduction of Ih (HCN1) in entorhinal cortex show larger grid fields and

larger grid spacing along the entire dorsoventral axis. The increase in grid scale is accompanied by an increase in the period of the theta modulation of the cells. Of crucial importance, the gradient in grid spacing is preserved in these HCN1 knockout mice in vivo (Giocomo Selleck Akt inhibitor et al., 2011), while the gradient in the resonant frequency is abolished in vitro (Giocomo and Hasselmo, 2009). The previously reported correlation between in vitro resonant frequency and in vivo grid cell frequency along the dorsoventral axis supported predictions proposed by oscillatory-interference models; however, the continued presence of a grid scale in knockout mice that lack Ih currents is inconsistent with the idea that the frequency of intrinsic membrane resonance independently determines the spatial scale of grid cells (Giocomo et al.,

2011). Instead, the increase in grid spacing and size along the dorsoventral axis in HCN1 knockout mice is consistent with changes seen in integrative properties with a reduction of Ih (Garden et al., 2008). The gradient in integrative properties systematically shifts with a loss of Ih in vitro (Garden et al., 2008), which is the exact same type of transformation as seen in grid spacing with the loss of Ih in vivo (Giocomo et al., 2011). Taken together, these observations identify HCN1-dependent variations in temporal integration properties as a candidate for the topographical organization in grid spacing. The mechanisms for the preserved gradient have not been determined, but other HCN subunits, such as HCN2 or the leak potassium current (Garden et al., 2008), might be critical. Finally, it should be noted that the original oscillatory-interference model (Burgess, 2008 and Burgess et al.