Why does the brain distort space?

With your permission, today I will continue to write about the functioning of the brain. I am very glad that my articles on this topic resonate with readers, and I myself am always interested in covering this topic. The principle here is this: the more you write, the more knowledge you acquire! Well, today we’ll talk about how our brain, pursuing its “own goals,” to one degree or another tries to distort our perception of space. So here I go!

To navigate in space, our brain has acquired two types of nerve cells. By the way, before I forget, it was for the discovery of the types of neurons we are discussing today that the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded in 2014.

Now let’s return to our neurons: the first type is located in the hippocampus, which I already wrote about as an important memory store. So, being located there, these neurons store information about various features of the surrounding area. That is, they map the landscape. Moreover, each individual “terrain map” is a code consisting of a certain ensemble of neurons. These cells of nervous tissue are called place neurons. The second type of neurons are located in the cerebral cortex and their alternating excitatory action potentials signal that a person is moving relative to the surrounding area. In other words, this type of neurons is responsible for designating certain areas of the area. These neurons have a name — grid neurons. The word grid is translated from English as lattice. This name tells us about the peculiarities of the functioning of these…