United States: The discovery of this fundamental “neural compass” represents a pattern of brain activity that researchers believe helps humans avoid getting lost.
Understanding the Human Internal Compass
Researchers claim that human beings have, from the beginning, relied on their natural compass to know their bearings in the environment.
On May 6 this year, scientists revealed in the journal Nature Human Behavior that they had found the precise site where our ethics are located in the human brain.
Better Understanding Alzheimer’s and Other Diseases
This revelation gives scientists a way into the mechanism of how people with dementia (Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s) get disoriented, and this may further help in developing more effective treatments for them.
The lead researcher and a psychology fellow at the University of Birmingham in the U.K., Benjamin Griffiths, said, “Keeping track of the direction you are heading in is pretty important. Even small errors in estimating where you are and which direction you are heading in can be disastrous,” as US News reported.
Griffiths further added, “We know that animals such as birds, rats, and bats have neural circuitry that keeps them on track, but we know surprisingly little about how the human brain manages this out and about in the real world.”
Methodology of the Study
Researchers used advanced techniques to track brain activity, including monitoring EEG signals in active participants.
During the experiment, 52 participants performed four different head movements (from looking straight ahead to looking to the sides) using either their heads or just their eyes while receiving verbal clues from computer monitors. A scalp EEG device recorded their brain activity.
Additionally, the study included ten participants with implanted brain electrodes to track cerebral conditions, such as epilepsy.
The findings revealed highly accurate signals in the brain just before participants turned their heads, indicating a neural mechanism at work.
According to Griffiths, “Isolating these signals enables us to really focus on how the brain processes navigational information and how these signals work alongside other cues such as visual landmarks,” as US News reported.
He said, “Our approach has opened up new avenues for exploring these features, with implications for research into neurodegenerative diseases and even for improving navigational technologies in robotics and AI.”