Not all of your navigational (导航的)skills are learned. Research shows that your sense of direction is innate. An innate ability is something you are born with. Your brain has special navigational neurons—head-direction cells, place cells, and grid cells (网格细胞)—and they help program your inside compass when you’re just a baby.
In 2010, scientists carried out an experiment to study baby rats’ neural activity in their brains. Although the rats were newborns, the researchers discovered that their head-direction cells (which help them recognize the direction they’re facing) were fully grown and developed. The rats, it seemed, were born with a sense of direction. And they hadn’t even opened their eyes yet!
Humans, of course, are not rats. But the hippocampus—the brain area we use for navigation—is similar in most mammals. If the rat’s compass develops this way, then it’s likely that a human’s compass does, too.
If we’re born with a sense of direction, then why are some people so good at getting lost? The scientists found that the two other cells—place and grid cells—developed within the first month. Place cells are thought to help us form a map in our mind, while grid cells help us navigate new and unfamiliar places. The two cells work together, and that’s where the trouble might be.
People who took part in a 2017 study played a video game that required them to travel quickly between different places. Monitoring their brains, the scientists found that grid cells helped the gamers recognize where they were—even without landmarks. According to researcher Michael Kahana, differences in how grid cells work may help explain why some people have a better sense of direction than others.
【2016届高考英语冲刺卷:09(四川卷)(原卷版)】相关文章:
★ 2014届高考英语一轮复习课时作业(八)必修2Module 2《No Drugs》(外研版)
★ 2017届高考英语二轮复习书面表达限时测验:7(含解析)
★ 2017届高考英语二轮复习大题冲关秘籍语法填空:体验真题(含解析)
★ 重庆市2014高考英语阅读理解一轮(精品)训练题(11)附答案
★ 重庆市2014高考英语阅读理解一轮(精品)训练题(22)附答案
★ 辽宁省辽阳市2014高考英语单项选择一轮(暑假)训练(5)附答案
最新
2017-04-24
2017-04-24
2017-04-24
2017-04-24
2017-04-21
2017-04-21