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This VR environment was a two-dimensional world that could be manipulated to include or exclude various visual elements. By monitoring the activity of these neurons, the scientists could observe how the mice's spatial maps were updated in response to the manipulation within the VR world. ...
The most striking finding centered around the role of visual boundaries. When the VR environment included elevated walls, the place cells and grid cells in the mice's brains fired consistently, indicating stable spatial maps.
However, removing these walls caused the firing patterns of these cells to become erratic, demonstrating a disruption in the animals' ability to navigate. Interestingly, removing cues from the floor of the VR environment had no significant impact. This suggests that the specific form of visual cues plays a crucial role in how animals build and maintain their internal maps. ...
"Our results suggest that the elevated—not flat—boundary plays a crucial role in how animals maintain spatial maps," explains Dr. Chen. "This may explain why, for instance, young childrenstruggle to use flat outlines of shapes for spatial orientation." ...
See the full story here: https://phys.org/news/2024-05-mice-virtual-reality-environment-reveal.html