Brain regions associated with spatial processing also appear to govern and encode information about social relationships.
Combining neuroimaging and a constructed virtual reality town, researchers found the brain uses three different systems to perceive environment. One system allows us to recognize a place, another helps navigate through that location, and the third helps navigate from one place to another. The parahippocampal place area (PPA) helps encode location recognition, while the retrosplenial complex allows for mentally mapping the locations of specific places.
Researchers have pinpointed the areas of the brain most sensitive to even the tiniest borders.
People use geometrical relationships to help orient themselves, a new study reports.