Thinking About Locations Activates Brain's Mental Maps, Study Shows

MIT research reveals cognitive maps in the brain are triggered by mere thought, without physical movement or sensory input.

Researchers found cognitive maps in the entorhinal cortex activate during mental navigation.
The study used animals navigating image sequences with joysticks, showing mental maps work without sensory input.
Distinctive neural activity patterns emerged, corresponding to imagined navigation through unseen landmarks.
A computational model was developed to mimic brain activity and explain how cognitive maps are formed.
Future research aims to explore how irregularly spaced or ring-arranged landmarks affect cognitive map formation.