Psalm 139:14
"Emerging evidence suggests that the brain encodes abstract
knowledge in the same way that it represents positions in space, which hints at a more universal theory of cognition.
In the past few decades, research has shown that for at least two of our faculties, memory and navigation, those metaphors may have a physical basis in the brain.
--A small seahorse-shaped structure, the hippocampus, is essential to both those functions, and evidence has started to suggest that the same coding scheme — a grid-based form of representation — may underlie them.
--Recent insights have prompted some researchers to propose that this same coding scheme can help us navigate other kinds of information, including sights, sounds and abstract concepts.
--The most ambitious suggestions even venture that these grid codes could be the key to understanding how the brain processes all details of general knowledge, perception and memory.
Unlike the place cells, grid cells do not represent particular locations. Instead, they form a coordinate system that’s independent of location. (As a result, they’re popularly known as the brain’s GPS.)
"Emerging evidence suggests that the brain encodes abstract
knowledge in the same way that it represents positions in space, which hints at a more universal theory of cognition.
In the past few decades, research has shown that for at least two of our faculties, memory and navigation, those metaphors may have a physical basis in the brain.
--A small seahorse-shaped structure, the hippocampus, is essential to both those functions, and evidence has started to suggest that the same coding scheme — a grid-based form of representation — may underlie them.
--Recent insights have prompted some researchers to propose that this same coding scheme can help us navigate other kinds of information, including sights, sounds and abstract concepts.
--The most ambitious suggestions even venture that these grid codes could be the key to understanding how the brain processes all details of general knowledge, perception and memory.
Unlike the place cells, grid cells do not represent particular locations. Instead, they form a coordinate system that’s independent of location. (As a result, they’re popularly known as the brain’s GPS.)
Each grid cell fires at
regularly spaced positions,
which form a hexagonal pattern.
*Different sets of grid cells form different grids: grids with larger or smaller hexagons, grids oriented in other directions, grids offset from one another.
*Together, the grid cells map every spatial position in an environment, and any particular location is represented by a unique combination of grid cells’ firing patterns.
*The single point where various grids overlap tells the brain where the body must be.
Since the grid network is based on relative relations, it could, at least in theory, represent not only a lot of information but a lot of different types of information, too."
Since the grid network is based on relative relations, it could, at least in theory, represent not only a lot of information but a lot of different types of information, too."
QuantaMagazine
