Scientists have shown that experiencing a new environment leads to the development of brain representations in non-obvious ways.
Results published in Nature Neuroscience on December 29, 2022 demonstrate that hippocampal neurons crucial for spatial navigation, memory, and planning understand space in a way consistent with a nonlinear hyperbolic geometry, a three-dimensional expanse that extends outward exponentially. In other terms, its interior resembles the growing mouth of an hourglass.
According to the study’s findings, the size of that area increases as one spends more time there. Also, the size is growing logarithmically, which is in line with the exponential growth of data that the human brain is capable of handling.
With these new insights, researchers may better understand neurocognitive illnesses affecting learning and memory, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
This research shows that brain activity is not necessarily linear. Neural networks, on the other hand, operate along a growing curve that can be studied and comprehended using tools from hyperbolic geometry and information theory.
Neuronal responses in this region of the brain were mapped by researchers, and this map grew in complexity as people spent more time in different locations. This impact persisted even when the animal ran somewhat faster or slower than normal through its habitat.
The brain’s inner workings are studied using cutting-edge computational methods at Sharpee’s group. They have lately been pioneers in using hyperbolic geometry to the study of biological signals like odor molecules and the sense of smell.
To no one’s surprise, the researchers here discovered that hyperbolic geometry has a role in determining brain responses as well. Nerve cells in the brain create hyperbolic maps that allow us to detect sensory chemicals and events.
As the rat spent more and more time in each setting, the spatial representations grew dynamically to accommodate its experience. The rat’s neuronal representations expanded as it learned more about the area as it went more slowly across it.
