Natures wonders: Brain GPS (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, October 06, 2014, 14:45 (3699 days ago) @ David Turell
edited by David Turell, Monday, October 06, 2014, 14:56

The discovery of this system wins the Nobel. it must develop using the brain's plasticity ability:-http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/41155/title/Brain-s--Inner-GPS--Wins-Nobel/-"Together identifying an inner positioning system within the brain, O'Keefe is being honored for his discovery of so-called place cells, while the Mosers are recognized for their later work identifying grid cells.
 
“The discoveries of John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser have solved a problem that has occupied philosophers and scientists for centuries,” the Nobel Foundation noted in its press release announcing the award: “How does the brain create a map of the space surrounding us and how can we navigate our way through a complex environment?”-Another take:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/10/06/three-who-discovered-inner-gps-win-nobel-prize-in-medicine/-"In 2005, the Mosers mapped the connections in the hippocampus as rats moved about a room. They “discovered an astonishing pattern of activity in a nearby part of the brain called the entorhinal cortex,” where certain cells activated as the rats moved past locations in a hexagonal grid.
 
"The found that these “grid cells” comprised a system of coordinates that permitted spatial navigation.
 
"Later research using brain imaging showed that the same system exists in humans. Patients with Alzheimer's disease lose their way around because the particular areas of the brain are affected."