Journal Article

DZNE-2026-00366

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png Failure to detect entorhinal grid-like signals in a passive navigation human fMRI study

Kransberg, J. ; Sjøli Bråthen, A. C. ; Falch, E. S. ; Øverbye, K. E. Ø. ; Garrido, P. F. ; Fjell, A. M. ; Stangl, M. ; Wolbers, T.DZNE* ; Sneve, M. H. ; Walhovd, K. B.

2026
MIT Press Cambridge, MA

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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.1162/IMAG.a.1196

Abstract: Grid cells in the human entorhinal cortex (EC) play a critical role in spatial navigation and memory. The EC is also one of the first regions affected by ageing and Alzheimer’s disease. This pre-registered functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study aimed to detect grid-cell-like signals (GLS) in a passive virtual navigation task. Contrary to our hypotheses and previous findings, we did not observe significant GLS at a population level, even in younger participants. Further exploratory analyses investigated the impact of task-engagement, as inferred from object-location memory performance, and showed no relationship with GLS magnitude. We also examined potential influences of a confounding one-fold directional signal and various data-processing choices but observed no consistent patterns. Our findings, consistent with recent null results from similar studies, suggest that passive navigation paradigms may be insufficient for reliably eliciting grid-like signals in human fMRI.

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Contributing Institute(s):

1. Aging, Cognition and Technology (AG Wolbers)

Research Program(s):

1. 353 - Clinical and Health Care Research (POF4-353) (POF4-353)

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