Organizing conceptual knowledge in humans with a gridlike code

It has been hypothesized that the brain organizes concepts into a mental map, allowing conceptual relationships to be navigated in a manner similar to that of space. Grid cells use a hexagonally symmetric code to organize spatial representations and are the likely source of a precise hexagonal symme...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 352; no. 6292; pp. 1464 - 1468
Main Authors: Constantinescu, Alexandra O, O'Reilly, Jill X, Behrens, Timothy E J
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 17.06.2016
Subjects:
Adult
Brain - cytology
Brain - physiology
Female
Functional Neuroimaging
Habits
Humans
Knowledge
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Neurons - physiology
Spatial Navigation - physiology
Young Adult
ISSN:1095-9203
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:It has been hypothesized that the brain organizes concepts into a mental map, allowing conceptual relationships to be navigated in a manner similar to that of space. Grid cells use a hexagonally symmetric code to organize spatial representations and are the likely source of a precise hexagonal symmetry in the functional magnetic resonance imaging signal. Humans navigating conceptual two-dimensional knowledge showed the same hexagonal signal in a set of brain regions markedly similar to those activated during spatial navigation. This gridlike signal is consistent across sessions acquired within an hour and more than a week apart. Our findings suggest that global relational codes may be used to organize nonspatial conceptual representations and that these codes may have a hexagonal gridlike pattern when conceptual knowledge is laid out in two continuous dimensions.
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ISSN:1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aaf0941