Researchers from the University of Birmingham and the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich have identified for the first time in the human brain an internal “neural compass” that helps us orient and “navigate” different environments, according to a publication in the scientific journal “Nature Human Behaviour ».
Better understanding of degenerative diseases
The new study revealed regulated…. perfectly patterns of brain signals, which are comparable to the neural codes that have been identified in rodents.
The new findings, according to the researchers, are expected to contribute to the understanding of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, in which orientation and the ability to navigate in space are often lost.
Use of portable EEGs
To conduct the study, the scientists used portable electroencephalographs to record the brain activity of volunteers while they were moving.
As the first author of the study, Dr. Benjamin Griffiths, explained, “knowing where one is heading is extremely important. Even small errors in assessing the direction to take can be disastrous. “We know that animals like birds, rats and bats have neural circuits that keep them on the … right track, but at the same time we know surprisingly little about how the human brain helps us orient ourselves in the real world.”
The… animated experiments
A group of 52 healthy participants took part in a series of… moving experiments while their brain activity was recorded via mobile EEG.
This procedure allowed the researchers to record the volunteers’ brain signals as they moved their heads to navigate a computer screen.
Transcranial recording with electrodes
In a separate study, scientists recorded the brain signals of 10 volunteers who were undergoing transcranial recording of their brain function via electrodes for conditions such as epilepsy. The transcranial electroencephalogram records data from the hippocampus of the brain and its neighboring regions.
Well coordinated brain signal
After accounting for “interference” in the EEGs from factors such as muscle movement, the researchers found a well-coordinated signal that was detected just before each participant’s head moved in one direction.
To improve robotics and AI technologies
Dr Griffiths noted that ‘isolating these signals allows us to focus on how the brain processes navigational information as well as how these signals work together with other signals such as visual ones. Our approach opens up new ways of exploring these features and may have an impact on research into neurodegenerative diseases as well as improving navigation technologies related to robotics and Artificial Intelligence.”
Future search for potential ‘compass’ of memory
The next step for the team is to investigate how the brain navigates through time in order to discover if there is a corresponding “neural compass” of memory.
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