A Hippocampal–Parietal Network for Reference Frame Coordination

Navigating space and forming memories based on spatial experience are crucial for survival, including storing memories in an allocentric (map-like) framework and conversion into egocentric (body-centered) action. The hippocampus and parietal cortex (PC) comprise a network for coordinating these reference frames, though the mechanism remains unclear. We used a task requiring remembering previous spatial locations to make correct future action and observed that hippocampus can encode the allocentric place, while PC encodes upcoming actions and relays this to hippocampus. Transformation from location to action unfolds gradually, with "Came From" signals diminishing and future action representations strengthening. PC sometimes encodes previous spatial locations in a route-based reference frame and conveys this to hippocampus. The signal for the future location appears first in PC, and then in hippocampus, in the form of an egocentric direction of future goal locations, suggesting egocentric encoding recently observed in hippocampus may originate in PC (or another "upstream" structure). Bidirectional signaling is apparent between PC and hippocampus and suggests a coordinated mechanism for integrating allocentric, route-centered, and egocentric spatial reference frames at the network level during navigation.