(Feb.12, ’15) Patterns
created by the brain’s grid cells, which are believed to guide navigation, are
modified by the shape of the environment, according to UCL researchers. This
means grid patterns aren’t a universal metric for the brain’s GPS system to
measure distance, as previously thought.
Grid cells in the brain appear to form an internal map of
the local environment by signalling periodically to create a ‘grid-pattern’
that helps animals to navigate, even in the dark.