Co-ordinate transformations in the hippocampal place cell phenomenon

The hippocampal place cell phenomenon, where certain hippocampal cells of a freely moving rat will respond preferentially to a location in its already familiar environment, is analyzed from a geometric point of view. It is hypothesized that the representation of physical space in the animal brain is achieved by a two-step transformation. The first step involves obtaining a cue-based representation, called a feature space, of the experimental surface. The second step is the mapping of the feature space into the two-dimensional place cell sheet based on a parallel coordinate system.<>