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vol I chap 3 sect 2

Volume I: Motion

Previous: 3.1. Understanding the mechanisms of vision.

3.2. Generation of a mental Global Positioning System (GPS).

Design and use of maps.

Maps are useful for understanding the meaning of position and direction: where are we and in what directions shall we move. A map is a schematic graphical bidimensional representation of a three-dimensional space including designs and drawings of places, paths, structures, and borders where objects are located and oriented trajectories can be tracked. Maps are useful tools for navigation in different kinds of environments. We need to read and interpret maps as complete and clear reference systems for being informed about positions, distances, orientations and motions.

A concept of a cognitive map as a conceptual representation of place in the brain was proposed in 1948 by Edward Tolman (1886 - 1959) who studied how animals learn to navigate by exploring their environment. More recently, John O´Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser received the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Their experiments demonstrated that inside the brain a sort of inner Global Positioning System (GPS) functions as a neurological network of nervous cells for the operation of higher cognitive functions.

It is quite informative to consider the learning and research personal trajectories of these laureates. See their documents called Biographical:

MLA style: John O’Keefe – Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Sun. 17 Dec 2023. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2014/okeefe/biographical/

MLA style: May-Britt Moser – Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Sun. 17 Dec 2023. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2014/may-britt-moser/biographical/

MLA style: Edvard Moser – Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Sun. 17 Dec 2023. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2014/edvard-moser/biographical/

In what follows, we quote the document WORK describing the main contributions of each one of the laureates and describe the content of his or her Nobel Lecture by indicating their corresponding subtitles. We present in three Appendices more detailed descriptions of their Nobel Lectures: Appendix 2A contains two parts: the first one related to the Accepted knowledge or questions under discussion in O´Keefe´s time, and the second one concerning O´Keefe main contributions or explanations reported in his Lecture. Next two Appendices contain excerpts of the other two Nobel Lectures: Appendix 2B corresponds to May-Britt Moser and Appendix 2C to Edvard I. Moser.

2014 Nobel Laurates in Physiology or Medicine: John O´Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser.

2014 Medicine Nobel Prize awarded to O’Keefe.

WORK: "The awareness of one’s location and how to find the way to other places is crucial for both humans and animals. To understand the ability to orient ourselves in space, John O’Keefe (1939) studied the movements of rats and signals from nerve cells in the hippocampus, an area located in the center of the brain. In 1971 he discovered that when a rat was at a certain location in a room, certain cells were activated, and that when the rat moved to another location, other cells became activated. That is to say, the cells form a kind of internal map of the room."

MLA style: John O'Keefe – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Thu. 16 Mar 2023. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2014/okeefe/facts/

NOBEL LECTURE: Spatial Cells in the Hippocampal Formation.

  • Introduction
  • What about the other cell types required by the theory?

MLA style: John O’Keefe – Nobel Lecture. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Thu. 16 Mar 2023. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2014/okeefe/lecture/

2014 Medicine Nobel Prize awarded to May-Britt Moser.

WORK: "The awareness of one’s location and how to find the way to other places is crucial for both humans and animals. In 2005 May-Britt Moser (1963) and Edvard I. Moser discovered a type of cell that is important for determining position close to the hippocampus, an area located in the center of the brain. They found that when a rat passed certain points arranged in a hexagonal grid in space, nerve cells that form a kind of coordinate system for navigation were activated. They then went on to demonstrate how these different cell types cooperate."

MLA style: May-Britt Moser – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Thu. 16 Mar 2023. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2014/may-britt-moser/facts/

NOBEL LECTURE: Grid Cells, Place Cells and Memory.

  • THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GRID CELLS AND PLACE CELLS.
  • ENTORHINAL SPEED CELLS.
  • THE HIPPOCAMPUS—MEMORY OR SPACE?
  • MECHANISMS FOR ASSOCIATING EVENTS WITH PLACE—ODOURS AS A GATEWAY.
  • REMAPPING KEEPS MEMORIES APART.
  • FROM SPATIAL MAPPING TO NAVIGATION

MLA style: May-Britt Moser – Nobel Lecture. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Thu. 16 Mar 2023. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2014/may-britt-moser/lecture/

2014 Medicine Nobel Prize awarded to Edvard I. Moser.

WORK: "The awareness of one’s location and how to find the way to other places is crucial for both humans and animals. In 2005 May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser (1962) discovered a type of cell that is important for determining position close to the hippocampus, an area located in the center of the brain. They found that when a rat passed certain points arranged in a hexagonal grid in space, nerve cells that form a kind of coordinate system for navigation were activated. They then went on to demonstrate how these different cell types cooperate."

MLA style: Edvard I. Moser – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Thu. 16 Mar 2023. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2014/edvard-moser/facts/

NOBEL LECTURE: Grid Cells and the Enthorinal Map of Space.

  1. From psychology to neurophysiology—and back.
  2. Moving into unknown territory—the entorhinal cortex.
  3. Grid cells and their functional organization.
  4. A universal map.
  5. Grid cells and the geometry of the environment.
  6. Fine-scale topography of the grid-cell network.
  7. How is the grid pattern generated?
  8. General principles of network function.

MLA style: Edvard I. Moser – Nobel Lecture. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Thu. 16 Mar 2023. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2014/edvard-moser/lecture/

Next: 3.3. Cognitive procedures for creating scientific knowledge.