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"How does the brain create a map of the space surrounding us and how can we navigate our way through a complex environment?"
Ole Kiehn, a Nobel committee member and professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institute, said the three scientists had found "an inner GPS that makes it possible to know where we are and find our way".
OKeefe, now director at the centre in neural circuits and behaviour at University College London, discovered the first component of the positioning system in 1971 when he found that a type of nerve cell in a brain region called the hippocampus was always activated when a rat was in a certain place in a room.
Seeing that other nerve cells were activated when the rat was in other positions, OKeefe concluded that these "place cells" formed a map of the room.
Nearly a decade later, the Moser team discovered cells, in the entorhinal cortex region in brains of rats, which function as a navigation system. These so-called "grid cells", they discovered, are constantly working to create a map of the outside world and are responsible for animals' knowing where they are, where they have been, and where they are going.
The finding, a fundamental piece of research, explains how the brain works but does not have immediate implications for new medicines, since it does not set out a mechanism of action.
But knowledge about the brain's positioning system can also help understanding of what causes loss of spatial awareness in stroke patients or those with devastating brain diseases like dementia, of which Alzheimer's is the most common form and which affects 44 million people worldwide.
"The discovery...revolutionised our understanding of how the brain knows where we are and is able to navigate within our surroundings," said Andrew King, a professor of neurophysiology at Britain's University of Oxford.
originally posted by: bitsforbytes
This is a nice find even if we already knew this. The next thing they will tell us is that woman don't have an as good internal GPS as men. Anyways, this applies to my wife at the very LEAST!
Again, this great discovery pin points something more in the brain which can lead to more control and obfuscation. I know I can sound pessimist, but a discovery is heard by good souls and dark ones alike.
Thanks for binging this to our attention.
originally posted by: tetra50
originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: tetra50
I believe it. I used to know a guy…
we could blindfold him and spin him around and he would still point north every time.
Sorry dude for making you dizzy.
Funny. Did you make him pin a tail on something, too?
2nd
originally posted by: GetHyped
a reply to: tetra50
The iPhone did not come out in 1971, nor do they operate in the same manner as the brain. Also note that with discoveries, the data is limited so they are treated (rightly) with skepticism.
originally posted by: intrptr
originally posted by: tetra50
originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: tetra50
I believe it. I used to know a guy…
we could blindfold him and spin him around and he would still point north every time.
Sorry dude for making you dizzy.
Funny. Did you make him pin a tail on something, too?
2nd
Lol, nope…. just made him dizzy. Because we didn't believe it. Like rolling a 7 every time. Thats supposed to be impossible. Poor guy, he didn't need to drink at parties if we were there.
originally posted by: GetHyped
a reply to: tetra50
But computer architectures are not modeled on human brains. They're pretty much orthogonal to each other. GPS works by triangulating signals from satellites. This in and of itself does not lead to a deeper understanding of the human brain (or visa versa).
Brains Internal GPS