Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

A metric for the cognitive map: found at last?

Kathryn J Jeffery1, Neil Burgess

  • 1Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London WC1H OAP, UK. k.jeffery@ucl.ac.uk

Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|November 29, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Researchers discovered grid cells in the brain whose activity patterns form a regular array, potentially forming the basis of a cognitive map for spatial navigation. This finding advances understanding of how the brain calculates position.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Hippocampal theta sweeps indicate goal direction during navigation.

Nature neuroscience·2026
Same author

Hippocampo-neocortical interaction as compressive retrieval-augmented generation.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

Spatial encoding of a traumatic virtual reality scene reduces intrusive memories.

Social cognitive and affective neuroscience·2026
Same author

Head direction cells use a head-referenced dual-axis updating rule in 3D space.

Communications biology·2026
Same author

Path Integration in Alzheimer's Disease: Orientation, Movement, and Theta Rhythmicity.

Annual review of neuroscience·2026
Same author

Spatial identification of areas suitable for other effective area-based conservation measures in the European Union.

Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology·2026

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Spatial Navigation

Background:

  • The brain's ability to represent locations, forming a 'cognitive map', is crucial for navigation.
  • The precise neural mechanisms underlying this spatial representation have remained largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the neural basis of spatial representation in the brain.
  • To identify specific neuronal activity patterns that contribute to a cognitive map.

Main Methods:

  • Recording the activity patterns of entorhinal cortical neurons in an environment.
  • Analyzing neuronal firing rates and spatial distributions.

Main Results:

  • Identified specific neurons, termed 'grid cells', exhibiting regular, evenly spaced activity peaks across the environment.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Observed that these activity patterns form a consistent array, suggesting a metric for spatial coding.

    • Conclusions:

    • Grid cells represent a potential fundamental component of the brain's spatial navigation system.
    • The discovery of grid cells offers significant insights into the neural computations involved in determining an organism's position.