In 1891, the artist Paul Gauguin departed Paris for Tahiti, yearning for a more uncomplicated existence. Seven years later, he unveiled what he considered his magnum opus—a sprawling canvas measuring four-and-a-half by twelve feet that delves into themes of youth, age, humanity, and the unknown. Inscribed in the upper left corner is an evocative title: D’où Venons-Nous / Que Sommes-Nous / Où Allons-Nous—Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? While Gauguin sought simplicity, his inquiries were anything but easy.
Fast forward a century, and although these questions remain as complex as ever, we are now approaching them through new perspectives. Advances in contemporary neuroscience are enabling us to tackle these inquiries, albeit in a more rigidly scientific manner. Earlier this week, the Nobel Foundation honored three scientists with the Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their groundbreaking work on cells that serve as a positioning system within the brain. These neurons are crucial to understanding our sense of location, a fundamental question that drives modern neuroscience’s exploration of the self and its navigation of the external world.
Mental Maps
While Gauguin was an artist, May-Britt and Edvard Moser are at the forefront of neuroscience. They might appear to be an ordinary couple from Norway, but their joint Nobel Prize is a testament to their significant contributions to the field. Alongside John O’Keefe from University College London, the Mosers investigate the so-called place cells and grid cells located in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, which address the elusive question of how we perceive our position in space.
Try to describe the sensation of familiarity; it’s a curious blend of visual input and memory, both conscious and subconscious. How does our brain differentiate between standing in the center of a room versus a mere step to the side? How do we recognize our movement? These considerations bring to mind the archetypal scientist observing a rat navigating a maze. When you envision a researcher, you might picture someone like May-Britt Moser—although their experiments don’t involve cheese; their rats prefer chocolate cereal.
Place cells and grid cells do not function exactly like a GPS, but the comparison isn’t far off. Your smartphone doesn’t actively ping satellites and wait for a response; instead, it passively receives signals. GPS devices rely on satellites that continuously broadcast their locations and precise timestamps. When your phone receives these signals, it calculates its position based on the time it took for the messages to arrive. With enough data from various satellites, it can pinpoint where you are.
Surprisingly, the brain appears to utilize a similar method for determining location. In the 1970s, O’Keefe discovered place cells—individual neurons that activate when a rat occupies a specific spot on a surface. This finding was unexpected: how could a complex brain afford to remember every location? Surely, we don’t need to recall every inch we’ve ever stood on. Many believed it was an anomaly.
Three decades later, the Mosers, who lead the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Norway, identified a group of cells that resolve this issue. Grid cells activate when an animal reaches a position that aligns with a mental map organized in a hexagonal grid. This reflects the brain’s inherent efficiency. The orientation, size, and position of these hexagonal maps can vary, and when multiple cells fire simultaneously, a place cell responds, indicating that your brain has identified its position on the map.
Where Are We Going?
I was part of an enthusiastic audience when Dr. Moser—Edvard, specifically—spoke at a conference in Oxford last March. His charisma and passion for his research were evident, and he seemed eager to share their findings.
Neuroscience often tackles straightforward questions with intricate answers. Why did our cortex evolve as it did? (Where do we come from?) What cognitive traits distinguish us from other animals? (What are we?) How do we learn, and how will these methods evolve as we better understand them? Gauguin inscribed, Where Are We Going? We’re still deciphering many of these questions. In the meantime, the work of our new Nobel Laureates helps clarify our current understanding of where we are.
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In summary, while the questions of existence and understanding our place in the world continue to challenge us, the advancements in neuroscience, as illustrated by the work of the Mosers and O’Keefe, offer crucial insights into the very essence of our being.