The Weizmann Institute findings, obtained using miniature
wireless devices, provide the first detailed information on the brain
mechanisms of three-dimensional orientation in mammals
Animals navigate and orient themselves to survive – to find
food and shelter or avoid predators, for example. Research conducted by Dr.
Nachum Ulanovsky and research student Michael Yartsev of the Weizmann
Institute’s Neurobiology Department, published today in Science, reveals for
the first time how three-dimensional, volumetric, space is perceived in
mammalian brains. The research was conducted using a unique, miniaturized
neural-telemetry system developed especially for this task, which enabled the
measurement of single brain cells during flight.