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To learn our way around a Modern metropolis , we often apply maps and landmarks to find the fast and most reliable route between two position . Now , newfangled enquiry point that our brains might use standardized processes to " pilot " between related concepts .
Researchers have developed a mathematical model to examine how the brain represents both spatial and semantic information . The latter includes knowledge about the meaning and significance of unlike the great unwashed , office and things ; brain action relate to these concepts crops up when a soul sees a somebody , place or matter in actual clip and when they recall it in amemory .
The brain might use the same processes to connect related concepts as it does to navigate a physical space, according to a new study.
The mannikin showed how both spacial and semantic selective information could be present in the same regions of the brain — and this suggests that the brain can manage both type of info in like ways , the scientist reported March 10 in the journalPNAS .
Two parts of the head that focus on memory and navigation — thehippocampusand the entorhinal pallium — both contain neurons that fire when people move through their physical surroundings . They also contain nerve cell that displace in reaction to certain concepts or ideas , known as conception cellphone . This led researchers to suspect these thought cognitive process might be relate .
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" Spatial representations and conceptual representations , and also semantic calculation and spatial computation , seem very unlike , " study carbon monoxide - authorTatsuya Haga , a computational neuroscientist at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology in Japan , recount Live Science . Semantic and spatial computing refer to how brains and computers process information in these separate land .
" However , there ’s a connection between those two different things , " Haga said . " So perchance the brain , specially the genus Hippocampus and entorhinal cortex , is using one principle to compute many things , includinglanguage . "
Haga and his fellow developed a numerical simulation that mime certain functions in the hippocampus to show how these ways of thinking are related . The model combines two functions that help manipulate how the processing hub duty period from one place or idea to another : a successor theatrical , which forecast the probability of moving from one strong-arm distance to another , and word embedding , which enamour the relationship between Holy Scripture .
The squad then demand their model to navigate a sham physical or conceptual space . The " physical " space was a false structure , sometimes with separate rooms , while the conceptual space involved traversing the metaphoric " distance " between related to words using analogy .
In response to these tasks , the model produced patterns that resemble the activity of two sort of neuron in the hippocampus and entorhinal lens cortex : one ask in spatial cognizance and another involved in concept recognition .
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The team showed that the same algorithmic program that can be used to navigate virtual spaces can also capture family relationship between related to construct , such as countries and their capitals . In this example , to voyage from the concept of " France " to that of " Berlin , " the model could first touch off a concept mobile phone for capital letter cities , which would lead it from " France " to " Paris , " and then activate an additional cell representing " Germany , " which would precede it to " Berlin . "
" When you ’re trying to navigate a maze metropolis , you have to have some kind of function with landmarks and directions,“Rob Mok , a computational neuroscientist at Royal Holloway , University of London who was not require in the study , tell Live Science . " And the idea is that you may do that when you ’re thinking as well . "
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The model can use various analogy to overcome the metaphorical space between different semantic construct .
" So if I ’m thinking about a andiron , how do I get to ' cat ' ? Or how do I get to ' Rex ' ? " Mok enjoin . " These are different counselling , and you might want to pilot in different ways to get there . "
The fresh mathematical model render one possible elbow room thehuman brainmight cognitive process both spacial and semantic information . However , no one has shown whether actual mind memorise and process information in the precise same way the exemplar does .
Haga tell Live Science that he hopes to enquire this biological mechanism in succeeding work using models that are more like to biological brains .
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