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 Concept Videos

Compass01:23

Compass

274
The compass is a fundamental instrument that operates by aligning its magnetic needle with Earth's magnetic field. This alignment facilitates navigation and orientation, offering a means to determine direction relative to magnetic north. However, the magnetic needle points to magnetic north, which differs slightly from true geographic north due to magnetic declination, which is the angular deviation between these two points. Declination varies based on geographic location and shifts over time...
274
Major Somatic Sensory Pathways01:28

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

1.2K
Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the...
1.2K
The Vestibular System01:29

The Vestibular System

40.2K
The vestibular system is a set of inner ear structures that provide a sense of balance and spatial orientation. This system is comprised of structures within the labyrinth of the inner ear, including the cochlea and two otolith organs—the utricle and saccule. The labyrinth also contains three semicircular canals—superior, posterior, and horizontal—that are oriented on different planes.
40.2K
Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

4.6K
The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex....
4.6K
Neural Circuits01:25

Neural Circuits

1.6K
Neural circuits and neuronal pools are two of the main structures found in the nervous system. Neural circuits are networks of neurons that work together to carry out a specific task or process. They consist of interconnected neurons and glial cells, which provide structural and metabolic support.
Neuronal pools are collections of nerve cells with similar functions and interact through chemical and electrical signals. These pools include both interneurons (the central neural circuit nodes that...
1.6K
Depth Perception and Spatial Vision01:15

Depth Perception and Spatial Vision

900
Depth perception is the ability to perceive objects three-dimensionally. It relies on two types of cues: binocular and monocular. Binocular cues depend on the combination of images from both eyes and how the eyes work together. Since the eyes are in slightly different positions, each eye captures a slightly different image. This disparity between images, known as binocular disparity, helps the brain interpret depth. When the brain compares these images, it determines the distance to an object.
900

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Evaluating chest-worn light logger adherence: development and application of a wear/non-wear model.

Scientific reports·2026
Same author

Headache-associated photophobia is more prevalent during winter: A cross-sectional study from a pediatric headache registry.

Headache·2026
Same author

Distinct Mechanisms for Panoramic and Landmark-Based View Integration in Human Place-Selective Cortex.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2025
Same author

Amplifying and ameliorating light avoidance in mice with photoreceptor targeting and calcitonin gene-related peptide sensitization.

Headache·2025
Same author

Daily light exposure habits of youth with migraine: a prospective exploratory study.

Npj biological timing and sleep·2025
Same author

Mnemonic maps of visual space in human prefrontal cortex.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same journal

Erratum: Yao et al., "Estrogen Regulates Bcl-w and Bim Expression: Role in Protection against β-Amyloid Peptide-Induced Neuronal Death".

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Erratum: L'Episcopo et al., "Plasticity of Subventricular Zone Neuroprogenitors in MPTP (1-Methyl-4-Phenyl-1,2,3,6-Tetrahydropyridine) Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease Involves Cross Talk between Inflammatory and Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathways: Functional Consequences for Neuroprotection and Repair".

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Representations of subsecond duration-based timing by complex spike synchrony in cerebellar Purkinje neurons.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

The extended language network: Language-responsive brain areas whose contributions to language remain to be discovered.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Cortical and thalamic afferent connectomes distinguish ACC subregions of the macaque brain.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

The synaptic vesicle priming protein Munc13 mediates evoked somatodendritic dopamine release.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 11, 2025

Author Spotlight: Investigating the Effects of Mind-Body-Movement Practices on Brain Function
06:17

Author Spotlight: Investigating the Effects of Mind-Body-Movement Practices on Brain Function

Published on: January 26, 2024

2.1K

A Neural Compass in the Human Brain during Naturalistic Virtual Navigation.

Zhengang Lu1,2, Joshua B Julian3,4, Geoffrey K Aguirre5

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 zhengang.lu@nyu.edu epstein@psych.upenn.edu.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|August 18, 2025
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Humans maintain a sense of direction using specific brain regions, including the retrosplenial complex. This neural compass supports wayfinding by representing heading relative to the environment's main axis during navigation.

Keywords:
encoding modelfMRIheading directionretrosplenial complex; spatial cognition; superior parietal lobe

More Related Videos

Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain
05:55

Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain

Published on: October 13, 2023

1.2K
A Networked Desktop Virtual Reality Setup for Decision Science and Navigation Experiments with Multiple Participants
06:28

A Networked Desktop Virtual Reality Setup for Decision Science and Navigation Experiments with Multiple Participants

Published on: August 26, 2018

6.1K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Sep 11, 2025

Author Spotlight: Investigating the Effects of Mind-Body-Movement Practices on Brain Function
06:17

Author Spotlight: Investigating the Effects of Mind-Body-Movement Practices on Brain Function

Published on: January 26, 2024

2.1K
Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain
05:55

Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain

Published on: October 13, 2023

1.2K
A Networked Desktop Virtual Reality Setup for Decision Science and Navigation Experiments with Multiple Participants
06:28

A Networked Desktop Virtual Reality Setup for Decision Science and Navigation Experiments with Multiple Participants

Published on: August 26, 2018

6.1K

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Human Navigation

Background:

  • Wayfinding relies on maintaining a consistent facing direction (FD).
  • Head direction cells in rodents suggest a neural compass, but human mechanisms during dynamic navigation are unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify brain regions supporting human FD representation during naturalistic navigation.
  • To investigate how the brain maintains a sense of direction in a dynamic virtual environment.

Main Methods:

  • fMRI data collected from human participants navigating a virtual city.
  • Encoding model analyses to identify brain activity tuned to facing direction.
  • Examined consistency of directional tuning across different environmental conditions.

Main Results:

  • Voxel clusters in the posterior-medial cortex (retrosplenial complex) and superior parietal lobule showed reliable FD tuning.
  • Directional tuning remained consistent across different city versions, locations, and task phases.
  • Brain regions represent FD relative to the environment's principal axis.

Conclusions:

  • The human brain, particularly the retrosplenial complex, possesses mechanisms for maintaining a sense of direction.
  • These brain regions support dynamic, naturalistic navigation by representing heading relative to environmental structure.