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AI mimics brain codes for navigation

An artificial-intelligence technique called deep learning has now been used to model spatial navigation. The system develops a representation of space similar to that of the grid cells found in the mammalian brain.
  1. Francesco Savelli

    1. Francesco Savelli is at the Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.

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  2. James J. Knierim

    1. James J. Knierim is at the Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA; and in the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University.

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Deep learning is an approach to artificial intelligence that is inspired by the brain’s neural networks. The technique is contributing to a plethora of technologies, from automated video analysis to language translation. In a paper online in Nature, Banino et al.1 use this framework to gain insights into real-life neuronal networks — in particular, how geometrically regular representations of space can facilitate flexible navigation strategies.

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Nature 557, 313-314 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-04992-7

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