Nobel Prize awarded to scientists for discovering the brain’s ‘inner GPS’ system

2014′s Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to John O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser, and Edvard Moser for their discovery of the brain’s “inner GPS” system. The prize revolves around their discovery of place cells and grid cells

— special neurons in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex of animals (including humans, monkeys, and rats) that appear to create a cognitive map of every room or space that you’ve ever explored. As you move around a room or space, a very specific place cell fires — and when you visit the same place again in the future, the same place cell fires every time. The three researchers will share a $1.1 million prize.

Source: http://mobile.extremetech.com/latest/222085-nobel-prize-awarded-to-scientists-for-discovering-the-brains-inner-gps-system?origref=