Have you ever wondered how we remember directions? They can guess the environment around them, how and where to go. How a natural sense of direction comes to us automatically. Scientists say that there is a compass in our brain, which helps us in finding direction.
According to a new study published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, researchers have identified a pattern of brain activity that helps keep us from wandering off.
A study by a team from the University of Birmingham and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich has succeeded in showing for the first time that our body and brain contain something like a neural compass, which the human brain uses to navigate itself through the environment. .
Such a circuit also exists in the brain of animals
The first author of the study, Dr. Benjamin J. We know that animals like birds, mice and bats have neural circuitry that keeps them on track, Griffiths said, but we know surprisingly little about how the human brain manages this in the real world.
How scientists found the compass in the human brain
To overcome the challenge of measuring neural activity in humans while walking, researchers used mobile EEG devices and motion capture technology. A group of 52 healthy participants took part in a series of motion-tracking experiments. Their brain activity was then recorded through scalp EEG.
In future work, researchers will try to examine how the brain navigates through time, to find out whether similar neuronal activity is responsible for memory.
how does it work
Researchers suggest that the brain may use neurons to simulate a desired direction in the brain without actually moving. They believe that head direction cells switch from one role to another, so that they can tell where you are now and where the right path is heading, before following the target direction.
Some have less and some have more of this ability.
The strength of activity in this area of the brain is linked to a person’s navigation skills. Which is less in some and more in others. This is also the area of the brain that is one of the first to be damaged by diseases such as Alzheimer’s, which may explain why getting lost and confused is a common early problem in sufferers.
what does a compass do
The job of a compass is to find the main directions. It has a magnetic needle that can rotate freely. When the compass is placed at any place, the magnetic needle rotates in the north-south direction. The red arrow of the compass needle is called the North Pole and the other end is called the South Pole.
Simply put, a compass is an instrument that tells directions like north, south, east and west. These are also known as cardinal directions.
who created the compass
Historians believe that the first compass was made by the Chinese around the first century. However, historians are not sure about its exact origin. The first compass was made from lodestone during the Han dynasty of China (202 BC – 220 AD). Lodestone is a naturally magnetic stone of iron. Chinese scientists may have developed the navigational compass in the 11th or 12th century. Western Europeans also followed suit at the end of the 12th century.
