Navigation first requires accurate perception of one's spatial orientation within the environment, which consists of knowledge about location and directional heading. Cells within several limbic system areas of the mammalian brain discharge allocentrically as a function of the animal's directional heading, independent of the animal's location and ongoing behavior. These cells are referred to as head direction (HD) cells and are believed to encode the animal's perceived directional heading with respect to its environment. Although HD cells are found in several areas, the principal circuit for generating this signal originates in the dorsal tegmental nucleus and projects serially, with some reciprocal connections, to the lateral mammillary nucleus --> anterodorsal thalamus --> PoS, and terminates in the entorhinal cortex. HD cells receive multimodal information about landmarks and self-generated movements. Vestibular information appears critical for generating the directional signal, but motor/proprioceptive and landmark information are important for updating it.

中文翻译：

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头部方向信号：起源和感觉运动整合。

导航首先需要准确感知一个人在环境中的空间方位，这包括有关位置和方向的知识。哺乳动物脑的几个边缘系统区域内的细胞根据动物的定向方向同心地放电，而与动物的位置和行为无关。这些细胞被称为头部方向（HD）细胞，据信可以编码动物相对于其环境的定向方向。尽管在多个区域发现了HD细胞，但产生该信号的主要电路起源于背侧被膜核，并以相互连接的方式顺次投射至外侧乳头核->背侧丘脑-> PoS，并终止于内嗅皮层。HD细胞接收有关地标和自我产生的运动的多模式信息。前庭信息对于产生方向信号显得至关重要，但是运动/本体感受和界标信息对于更新方向信号很重要。