The entorhinal cortex already has a unique form of spatial representation encoded by grid cells. These
grid cells convey to the hippocampus, via the convergence of several grid cells onto the hippocampal
place cell, information about position, direction, and distance that is essential for navigation.
Moser researchers
First, Rebecca Saxe has found that there is a specific area in the brain at the junction between the
temporal and parietal lobes that encodes aspects of the theory of mind. It becomes active when a
person entertains ideas about another person’s possible responses to our actions. This new finding
extends a series of important findings from Rizzolatti’s group in Italy which first showed that there are
certain cells in the premotor areas of parietal cortex of the monkey that respond not only when a
monkey picks up a peanut but also when the monkey sees another monkey or a human being pick up a
peanut. These cells are called mirror cells because they respond not only to personal action but in an
imitative way to the action of others. In addition to showing a cellular basis for a theory of mind, these
cells also illustrate that the motor systems have cognitive function. Imaging experiments by
Ramachandran have shown that this area is present in people, and that it appears to be disturbed in
patients with autism.
Cori Bargmann, a geneticist at the Rockefeller University, has studied two variants of a worm called C
elegans, that differ in their feeding pattern. One variant is solitary and seeks its food alone; the other is
social and forages in groups. The only difference between the two is one amino acid in an otherwise
shared receptor protein. If you move the receptor from a social worm to a solitary worm, it makes the
solitary worm social. This is one of several examples in which changing a single gene alters the social
behavior of an animal.
http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge204.html#ek
Next
grid cells convey to the hippocampus, via the convergence of several grid cells onto the hippocampal
place cell, information about position, direction, and distance that is essential for navigation.
Moser researchers
First, Rebecca Saxe has found that there is a specific area in the brain at the junction between the
temporal and parietal lobes that encodes aspects of the theory of mind. It becomes active when a
person entertains ideas about another person’s possible responses to our actions. This new finding
extends a series of important findings from Rizzolatti’s group in Italy which first showed that there are
certain cells in the premotor areas of parietal cortex of the monkey that respond not only when a
monkey picks up a peanut but also when the monkey sees another monkey or a human being pick up a
peanut. These cells are called mirror cells because they respond not only to personal action but in an
imitative way to the action of others. In addition to showing a cellular basis for a theory of mind, these
cells also illustrate that the motor systems have cognitive function. Imaging experiments by
Ramachandran have shown that this area is present in people, and that it appears to be disturbed in
patients with autism.
Cori Bargmann, a geneticist at the Rockefeller University, has studied two variants of a worm called C
elegans, that differ in their feeding pattern. One variant is solitary and seeks its food alone; the other is
social and forages in groups. The only difference between the two is one amino acid in an otherwise
shared receptor protein. If you move the receptor from a social worm to a solitary worm, it makes the
solitary worm social. This is one of several examples in which changing a single gene alters the social
behavior of an animal.
http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge204.html#ek
Next
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