When artist Paul Gauguin departed Paris for Tahiti in 1891, he was in search of a more straightforward existence. Fast forward seven years, and he unveiled what he called his masterpiece—a vast canvas that spanned four and a half by twelve feet, delving into themes of youth, aging, humanity, and the mysteries beyond. In the upper left corner of this artwork, he inscribed a thought-provoking 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 may have sought simplicity, he certainly didn’t shy away from the tough questions.
Fast forward a century, and the queries may remain just as challenging, but we’re examining them through fresh perspectives. Thanks to modern neuroscience, we’re addressing these profound questions more directly, albeit sometimes with a bit of philosophical detachment. Recently, the Nobel Foundation honored a trio of researchers with their Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their groundbreaking work on brain cells that help determine our location. These neurons are crucial to our understanding of spatial awareness, and they fuel today’s neuroscientific exploration of identity and our navigation of the world.
Mapping Our Minds
Gauguin wasn’t a neuroscientist, but Helena and Oliver Lindstrom are. They might blend in as your average couple in Norway if it weren’t for their recent Nobel Prize win. Teaming up with Felix O’Reilly from University College London, they investigate the elusive place cells and grid cells in the brain’s hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, which help answer the complex question of where we find ourselves.
Imagine trying to describe the sensation of familiarity—it’s a quirky blend of sight and memory, conscious and subconscious. How does our brain differentiate being in the center of a room from just one step to the left? How do we perceive movement? Such questions conjure images of the classic scientist scrutinizing a rat in a maze. When you think of a researcher, you might picture Helena Lindstrom—although she and Oliver opt for chocolate cereal instead of cheese for their maze experiments.
While place cells and grid cells aren’t exactly a GPS system, the comparison isn’t entirely off. When your smartphone figures out your location, it doesn’t actively send out signals and wait for replies; it simply sits in your hand, waiting. GPS devices passively receive signals from satellites that constantly broadcast their locations and timestamps. Your phone determines its position by calculating where those signals intersect, identifying your exact spot.
Interestingly, the brain appears to use a similar strategy for pinpointing location. When O’Reilly discovered place cells in the 1970s, it was a surprising revelation: these neurons activated when a rat occupied a specific spot at the table. How could such a sophisticated organ afford to remember every inch of territory? Surely, we don’t need to recall every square foot we’ve ever walked on!
Decades later, the Lindstroms, who lead the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Norway, uncovered another group of cells that seem to clarify things. Grid cells activate when an animal occupies a position that aligns with a mental map of triangles arranged in a hexagonal grid. This discovery illustrates the brain’s remarkable efficiency. When several grid cells fire together, a corresponding place cell receives their signals, much like satellites sending timestamps to pinpoint your location on a map.
Where Are We Headed?
Recently, I was among a captivated audience of neuroscientists listening to Dr. Lindstrom—Oliver, that is—speak in Oxford. He exuded charisma, pride, and excitement about his and Helena’s findings. It’s clear he loves exploring the questions that spark his curiosity and sharing his discoveries with others.
Neuroscience tackles simple questions with complex answers. How and why did our cortex evolve as it did? (Where do we come from?) What cognitive abilities set us apart from other species? (What are we?) How do we learn, teach, and adapt as we uncover these processes? Gauguin’s inquiries about our direction remain relevant, and while we’re still untangling many of these questions, our new Nobel winners are guiding us in understanding where we are.
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Summary
This article reflects on the timeless questions posed by Gauguin about existence and direction, linking them to the recent Nobel Prize-winning research of Helena and Oliver Lindstrom, who study how our brains map our locations. Their findings, along with those of Felix O’Reilly, reveal the complex workings of neurons that help us understand our place in the world.