Right Time
and Place: May Britt and Edvard Moser Explore the Brain’s GPS
Gorman,
James. "Right Time and Place." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 29 Apr. 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/science/
may-britt-and-edvard-moser-explore-the-brains-gps.html>.
This article describes the discovery
of grid cells in rat brains. These cells are a kind of built-in navigation
system that is at the very heart of how animals know where they are, where they
are going and where they have been. May Britt and Edvard Moser, spearheading
this research, have shown that this special function occurs in the entorhinal
cortex, which is at the back base of the brain. They noticed cells that would
emit a signal every time a rat went to a particular spot, and they soon learned
that the cells tracked the rat’s movement in the same way, no matter where the
rat was. The cell was not responding to some external mark, but keeping track
of how the rat moved. These cells would then inform place cells in the
hippocampus (through an unknown mechanism), which sends the signal back with
precise location information. Britt and Moser found that a very regular pattern
emerged- the grid cells fired in a hexagonal formation in specific areas,
creating a “grid” like a checkerboard (see picture below).
This research can be the basis of
several scientific developments to come. It has been hypothesized that the way
the grid cells record and remember movement in space may be the basis of all
memory. This can have huge implications for the way we learn and study in
school. It is also known that the area in the brain that contains the grid cell
navigation system is often damaged early in Alzheimer’s disease, and one
of the frequent early symptoms of Alzheimer’s patients is that they get lost.
These findings perhaps can help develop new treatments for Alzheimer’s in the
future.
I believe that the author did a mediocre good job
explaining the treatment and its implications.
He went a lot into the personal
life of the researchers and how they came about the research project,
and a lot
more unimportant information. At times, his progression of ideas was confusing
as well. He
didn’t do a good job explaining what the research found either. It wasn’t
very well organized, well
written, or informative. The picture contains more
information in a few sentences than the entire article
encompasses.
4 comments:
After reading Malika’s summary and the article she presented, I felt that she did three things particularly well. I felt that Malika explained the significance of the discovery of grid cells in rat brains thoroughly and completely. I think it is important that we learn about such a crucial part of our brain that especially affects our roles as students. I also felt that Malika explained how the cells work particularly well. I think that she used language that was simple enough to help us understand the importance and significance of the cells, and exactly how they work. I also liked how Malika explained the use and role of these cells, and even cited Alzheimer’s disease as an example of inhibited grid cells. I think it made her cell explanation and significance of such a discovery more tangible to us. I also really liked the fact that Malika included a picture, which really helped us visualize the cell location.
I felt that Malika could have included some more insight as to why the cells were just recently discovered. I think this would have given us some important background to the whole process. I also think that Malika could have explained how the cells were discovered (i.e. what the experiment entailed), which would also have helped us understand the workings of the cells and perhaps why they had not been discovered before.
I learned all about the functions of grid cells from reading Malika’s review. I think this is an extremely important piece of information to know because it affects everyone with a brain! I was really impressed with Malika’s ability to summarize such an important article so well.
Matt James
Article comment
Malika’s
After reading Malika’s summary and the article itself I thought that overall Malika did a good job summarizing a difficult article, in that sense I feel that she did a good job summarizing what the author was trying to say, while keeping it concise. Another thing that I enjoyed was the picture she showed at the end of her post; I felt that the picture helped both bring closure to her summary and help explain to us exactly what the experiment was doing. I liked the picture because it clarified any confusion that was left from her explanation. Another thing that I liked was how critical Malika was of the author, for one thing, it made me feel better about not quite grasping the article in terms of finding the point, and I found it entertaining.
I feel like Malika could have done a better job explaining what exactly made these cells so important and how we could have not known anything about them before. I feel that it would clarify why these findings are so ground breaking. Also I didn’t like how her font and spacing changed mid review, it made her writing slightly hard to follow.
One thing I learned was the actual function of grid cells and how they play a huge part in everyday life for any thinking organism.
I read Malika’s Article review “May Britt and Edvard Moser Explore the Brain’s GPS.” I found this article very interesting and the review was very good. One thing I liked what that she explained what these cells do very well. Another thing I liked is the picture she added to it. It really helped me understand it. I also liked the little paragraphs in the picture. I kind of felt like that was more useful than the whole article itself. Although she explained what the cells do, one thing I would have like to know more about it the Grid Cells. Another thing I did not like is that it was a little confusing. I’m not really familiar with all of these terms being used and I would have liked it more if it was explained. Overall I though it was a good review and very interesting. I enjoyed reading it.
I think Malika did a nice job on this review. For one, I really like that she added a diagram. It helped me understand what was going on inside the rat. I also think she did a nice job explaining what a grid cell is. If the reader did not understand that there would be little hope of understanding this break through. Finally I think Malika did a nice job summarizing the different real life problems this discovery can solve, such as Alzheimer’s.
One thing I think she could have done better was to explain how they actually tested/examined the rats. However they might not have mentioned the equipment or procedures used in the article. Also Malika noted the article was not very good/ well written, so she may have been better off finding a better article that she could thoroughly review.
One thing I learned was how important grid cells are when it comes to an animals memory and understanding of its surroundings.
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