Edvard I Moser

Edvard I Moser

@edvardmoser.bsky.social

Scientific Co-Director and Professor at Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, NTNU, Norway. Neural network computation, grid cells. Nobel Prize Physiology-Medicine 2014.

2K followers112 following68 posts

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Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

Out now in @science.org : How does the brain rapidly scan space to guide navigation? We found that the brain’s internal map is continuously retuned from moment to moment, focusing neural activity on what matters most. 🧵1/8 👉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.orgAdaptive modulation of theta sweeps in the brain’s navigation circuitEfficient navigation requires prioritizing information from behaviorally relevant locations. In rats, such selective sampling may arise from theta-paced sweeps in grid and place cell populations, whic...
Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

Very exciting theoretical work from Soledad Ganzalo Cogno´s new theory group. Will unquestionably guide my own future work. Congratulations, Soledad and team!

Soledad Gonzalo Cogno@soledad-gcogno.bsky.social

📢🔥🎉🤩 New preprint from the lab, in collaboration with @clopathlab.bsky.social ! What network mechanisms generate a diversity of neural activity sequences within and across circuits? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵👇

biorxiv.orgA common structure in recurrent networks supports neural sequence generation locally and in downstream neuronsNeural sequences, characterized by neurons or groups of neurons that fire one after the other, have been observed in multiple brain regions, across species, and are known to underlie a diversity of br...
Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

And here an excellent summary of the details by the main contributor:

Abraham Zelalem Vollan@azvollan.bsky.social

Now in Science: How does the brain’s navigation system allocate its limited representational resources during behavior? We found that grid cells sweep toward locations of interest, providing a potential mechanism for allocating spatial attention in the cognitive map.🧵 science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

The dynamic retuning is reminiscent of active sensing. Rather than pointing to a fixed goal, the brain reallocates its internal spatial scan from moment to moment toward whatever matters most, right now. 🧵3/8

Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

#Gridcells generate rhythmic theta sweeps 🧹 across the brain’s internal map. We show these #sweeps are not rigid - they retune from moment to moment according to behavioral demands. They can narrow and lock onto prey, reverse during backward movement, and persist even during REM sleep. 🧵2/8

Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

Come and visit!

Jo Carpenter@jocarpenter.bsky.social

The Moser Group is presenting our work on Wednesday afternoon at #FENS2026! •Mechanism for L-R sweeps •Attention modulation of sweeps •Grid/place remapping rules & dynamics •”Mega torus” as a hi-capacity memory space •Moving the grid bump •Development of tori & rings •RSC/HC pops. in a spatial task

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Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

A half-century old question may have its final answer. Using high-resolution #Mini2P microscopes, we find no evidence of local topography in #PlaceCells. Place fields of neighbouring cells are no more similar than those of randomly selected cells. 🧠🗺️ Out now in @pnas.org www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

pnas.orgPlace cells in CA1 lack topographical organization of firing locations | PNASTopography is a well-described and well-known concept for cortical organization in primary sensory and motor cortices of mammalian brains. Similar ...
Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

I recommend this school to anyone interested in computation in the brain - it receives excellent reviews year after year, it is highly interactive and social, and the setting is remarkable.

Soledad Gonzalo Cogno@soledad-gcogno.bsky.social

Applications are now open for the summer school: 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 🧠 Apply before March 15: www.compneuronrsn.org 📍 Located in beautiful Eresfjord 🇳🇴 🗓️ Between July 6-24 Supported by the @kavlifoundation.org In collaboration with @kavlintnu.bsky.social

compneuronrsn.orgMathematical Methods in Computational NeuroscienceSummer school in Eresfjord, Norway (July 8th - 26th, 2024)
Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

The hippocampal map has its own attentional control signal! Our new study reveals that theta #sweeps can be instantly biased towards behaviourally relevant locations. See 📹 in post 4/6 and preprint here 👉 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵(1/6)

biorxiv.orgAttention-like regulation of theta sweeps in the brain's spatial navigation circuitSpatial attention supports navigation by prioritizing information from selected locations. A candidate neural mechanism is provided by theta-paced sweeps in grid- and place-cell population activity, which sample nearby space in a left-right-alternating pattern coordinated by parasubicular direction signals. During exploration, this alternation promotes uniform spatial coverage, but whether sweeps can be flexibly tuned to locations of particular interest remains unclear. Using large-scale Neuropixels recordings in freely-behaving rats, we show that sweeps and direction signals are rapidly and dynamically modulated: they track moving targets during pursuit, precede orienting responses during immobility, and reverse during backward locomotion — without prior spatial learning. Similar modulation occurs during REM sleep. Canonical head-direction signals remain head-aligned. These findings identify sweeps as a flexible, attention-like mechanism for selectively sampling allocentric cognitive maps. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. European Research Council, Synergy Grant 951319 (EIM) The Research Council of Norway, Centre of Neural Computation 223262 (EIM, MBM), Centre for Algorithms in the Cortex 332640 (EIM, MBM), National Infrastructure grant (NORBRAIN, 295721 and 350201) The Kavli Foundation, https://ror.org/00kztt736 Ministry of Science and Education, Norway (EIM, MBM) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences; NTNU, Norway (AZV)
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Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

Whether the system can be flexibly redirected to prioritize specific locations has been unclear. Using large-scale #Neuropixels recordings in freely behaving rats, we find that both sweeps – and the internal direction signals driving them – are dynamically modulated moment by moment. (4/6)

Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

Correct text for post (4/6): Sweeps bias towards a fast-moving bait during spontaneous pursuit, reorient when the animal loses and regains the target, and even reverse during backward locomotion to align with intended movement direction. See 📹

Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

The hippocampal map has its own attentional control signal! Our new study reveals that theta #sweeps can be instantly biased towards behaviourally relevant locations. See 📹 in post 4/6 and preprint here 👉 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵(1/6)

biorxiv.orgAttention-like regulation of theta sweeps in the brain's spatial navigation circuitSpatial attention supports navigation by prioritizing information from selected locations. A candidate neural mechanism is provided by theta-paced sweeps in grid- and place-cell population activity, which sample nearby space in a left-right-alternating pattern coordinated by parasubicular direction signals. During exploration, this alternation promotes uniform spatial coverage, but whether sweeps can be flexibly tuned to locations of particular interest remains unclear. Using large-scale Neuropixels recordings in freely-behaving rats, we show that sweeps and direction signals are rapidly and dynamically modulated: they track moving targets during pursuit, precede orienting responses during immobility, and reverse during backward locomotion — without prior spatial learning. Similar modulation occurs during REM sleep. Canonical head-direction signals remain head-aligned. These findings identify sweeps as a flexible, attention-like mechanism for selectively sampling allocentric cognitive maps. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. European Research Council, Synergy Grant 951319 (EIM) The Research Council of Norway, Centre of Neural Computation 223262 (EIM, MBM), Centre for Algorithms in the Cortex 332640 (EIM, MBM), National Infrastructure grant (NORBRAIN, 295721 and 350201) The Kavli Foundation, https://ror.org/00kztt736 Ministry of Science and Education, Norway (EIM, MBM) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences; NTNU, Norway (AZV)
Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

Correct text for post (4/6): Sweeps bias towards a fast-moving bait during spontaneous pursuit, reorient when the animal loses and regains the target, and even reverse during backward locomotion to align with intended movement direction. See 📹

Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

The hippocampal map has its own attentional control signal! Our new study reveals that theta #sweeps can be instantly biased towards behaviourally relevant locations. See 📹 in post 4/6 and preprint here 👉 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵(1/6)

biorxiv.orgAttention-like regulation of theta sweeps in the brain's spatial navigation circuitSpatial attention supports navigation by prioritizing information from selected locations. A candidate neural mechanism is provided by theta-paced sweeps in grid- and place-cell population activity, which sample nearby space in a left-right-alternating pattern coordinated by parasubicular direction signals. During exploration, this alternation promotes uniform spatial coverage, but whether sweeps can be flexibly tuned to locations of particular interest remains unclear. Using large-scale Neuropixels recordings in freely-behaving rats, we show that sweeps and direction signals are rapidly and dynamically modulated: they track moving targets during pursuit, precede orienting responses during immobility, and reverse during backward locomotion — without prior spatial learning. Similar modulation occurs during REM sleep. Canonical head-direction signals remain head-aligned. These findings identify sweeps as a flexible, attention-like mechanism for selectively sampling allocentric cognitive maps. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. European Research Council, Synergy Grant 951319 (EIM) The Research Council of Norway, Centre of Neural Computation 223262 (EIM, MBM), Centre for Algorithms in the Cortex 332640 (EIM, MBM), National Infrastructure grant (NORBRAIN, 295721 and 350201) The Kavli Foundation, https://ror.org/00kztt736 Ministry of Science and Education, Norway (EIM, MBM) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences; NTNU, Norway (AZV)
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Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

These changes occur instantly, without learning or trained goals. Rather than encoding routes to goals, theta sweeps act as a general, attention-like mechanism for continuously and selectively sampling of behaviourally relevant locations within an allocentric map. (5/6)

Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

The hippocampal map has its own attentional control signal! Our new study reveals that theta #sweeps can be instantly biased towards behaviourally relevant locations. See 📹 in post 4/6 and preprint here 👉 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵(1/6)

biorxiv.orgAttention-like regulation of theta sweeps in the brain's spatial navigation circuitSpatial attention supports navigation by prioritizing information from selected locations. A candidate neural mechanism is provided by theta-paced sweeps in grid- and place-cell population activity, which sample nearby space in a left-right-alternating pattern coordinated by parasubicular direction signals. During exploration, this alternation promotes uniform spatial coverage, but whether sweeps can be flexibly tuned to locations of particular interest remains unclear. Using large-scale Neuropixels recordings in freely-behaving rats, we show that sweeps and direction signals are rapidly and dynamically modulated: they track moving targets during pursuit, precede orienting responses during immobility, and reverse during backward locomotion — without prior spatial learning. Similar modulation occurs during REM sleep. Canonical head-direction signals remain head-aligned. These findings identify sweeps as a flexible, attention-like mechanism for selectively sampling allocentric cognitive maps. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. European Research Council, Synergy Grant 951319 (EIM) The Research Council of Norway, Centre of Neural Computation 223262 (EIM, MBM), Centre for Algorithms in the Cortex 332640 (EIM, MBM), National Infrastructure grant (NORBRAIN, 295721 and 350201) The Kavli Foundation, https://ror.org/00kztt736 Ministry of Science and Education, Norway (EIM, MBM) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences; NTNU, Norway (AZV)
Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

Theta sweeps are population sequences in #gridcells and #placecells that, once per theta cycle, radiate outward from the animal’s location. In baseline conditions, they alternate rigidly left-right around the head axis, generating broad, forward-oriented sampling of nearby #space. (2/6) 🧠🧹

Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

Whether the system can be flexibly redirected to prioritize specific locations has been unclear. Using large-scale #Neuropixels recordings in freely behaving rats, we find that both sweeps – and the internal direction signals driving them – are dynamically modulated moment by moment. (3/6)

Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

Gratulerer til Magnar Bjørås - en velfortjent og solid anerkjennelse av forskning i verdensklasse ved #NTNU!

Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience@kavlintnu.bsky.social

🎉 Gratulerer til vår kollega Magnar Bjørås, kåret til Årets trønder! Ved Kavli-instituttet er vi stolte over Magnars banebrytende forskning på sjeldne sykdommer som barnedemens - forskning som gir håp der det trengs aller mest. Les saken på NRK:

nrk.noÅrets trønder og Årets hverdagshelt 2025 er kåretHun hjelper barn i konfliktområder, mens han forsker på barnedemens. Fredag blir de hedret i Olavshallen.
Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

Come and join us tomorrow morning to discuss the latest findings from our lab(s)! We have many highlights to share!

Matteo Guardamagna@matteoguardamagna.bsky.social

Still at SfN on the last day? During the morning session on the 19th, 8:00AM - 12:00PM, come check out our posters from the Moser, Zong, and Gonzalo Cogno groups in row QQ ('Grid cells and spatially modulated cells'). Ephys, imaging, remapping, development, sweeps and more! 🧠 Detailed thread below 👇

Edvard I Moser reposted

clykken.bsky.social
@clykken.bsky.social

1/8 How can the brain create countless unique memories using a single, universal metric of space? We’ve been waiting for the answer to this for two decades! Read it here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.orgFunctional independence of entorhinal grid cell modules enables remapping in hippocampal place cellsA systems-level understanding of cortical computation requires insight into how neural codes are transformed across distinct brain circuits. In the mammalian cortex, one of the few systems where such ...
Edvard I Moser@edvardmoser.bsky.social

1/5 How does the brain turn the low-dimensional, universal grid cell metric into the rich, diverse codes needed for memory in hippocampal place cells? 🧵 Preprint link 👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.orgFunctional independence of entorhinal grid cell modules enables remapping in hippocampal place cellsA systems-level understanding of cortical computation requires insight into how neural codes are transformed across distinct brain circuits. In the mammalian cortex, one of the few systems where such ...
Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

4/5 Conclusion: Independent phase changes across grid modules are sufficient to generate a vast array of distinct hippocampal representations. Why this matters: Such combinatorial flexibility is a key requirement for forming episodic memories, offering a mechanism for high-capacity memory.

Edvard I Moser
@edvardmoser.bsky.social

3/5 We discovered that when grid cell modules realigned differently between environments, hippocampal place cells remapped. Strikingly, the extent of this remapping was directly predicted by the disparity in phase changes across grid modules.