Scientists have identified how the brain’s ‘internal compass’ works

In their research on mice, scientists revealed how the brain perceives environmental changes and how its «internal compass» works.

According to the news of Tech Explorist, scientists at McGill University conducted research to understand how the center of direction in the brain, known as the «neural compass» or the «internal compass», is the basis of the sense of direction.

Scientists have obtained new information about the direction center by monitoring neural changes in the brain with the latest imaging techniques.

It was stated that the research also sheds light on how the brain uses the sense of direction in processes and environmental changes that cause patients to be disoriented and lost in degenerative diseases such as dementia.

To better understand how visual information affects the brain’s internal compass, the researchers monitored neural activity in the brains of mice placed in a confusing virtual environment.

Using the latest advances in neural recording technology, the team was able to detect the activities of the brain’s internal compass with unprecedented accuracy.

Gaining clearer insight into how the mouse’s navigation system works, the researchers also discovered how the brain’s wayfinding cells support their ability to reorient themselves in a changing environment.

The researchers found that there is a phenomenon called «environmental awareness» that allows mice to reorientate in their brain’s internal compass after being disoriented.

«It was as if there was a ‘reset button’ that quickly reorients the brain’s internal compass in confusing situations,» says Harvard University researcher Zaki Ajabi. said.

«These findings may explain how VR systems can easily take control of our sense of direction,» Ajabi said. used the phrase.

The authors of the study suggested that although the mice used in the study were shown unnatural images, considering the rapid adoption of virtual reality technology, these scenarios could also be applied to humans.

«The research shows how experimental and computational approaches can better understand the brain activities that drive behavior,» said study co-author Xue-Xin Wei of the University of Texas at Austin. made the statement.

«The findings also hold important information for Alzheimer’s disease because one of the first signs of Alzheimer’s is when people become disoriented and lost, even in familiar environments,» said Mark Brandon, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at McGill University. shared his opinion.

Details of the research have been published in the journal Nature.