Vector Trace cells are a novel type of neuron (also known as nerve cell).
Neurons carry electrical impulses from one place to another, transmitting information through electrical and chemical signals.
Vector Trace cells encode combined distances and directions to objects, as well as memory for the presence of objects recently seen, but now absent. It looks like Vector Trace cells connect to creative brain networks which help us to plan our actions and imagine complex scenarios in our mind s eye, said study co-author Dr Colin Lever at the University of Durham. Vector trace cells acting together likely allow us to recreate the spatial relationships between ourselves and objects, and between the objects in a scene, even when those objects are not directly visible to us.
Durham University scientists discover new type of brain cell that could help detect dementia
The cells that have been found are in an area of the brain that is first to be attacked by brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease
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Remembering where things were: scientists discover a new type of brain cell that could help detect dementia
Dr Lever (left) and Dr Poulter (right) in the laboratory where Dr Poulter first discovered Vector Trace cells A NEW kind of brain cell has been discovered which will help to understand how we remember where we left objects, such as car keys and mobile phones. Damage to these cells may help explain memory loss in certain kinds of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease. The existence of GPS-like brain cells, which can store maps of the places we’ve been, like our kitchen or a beach on holiday, was already widely known, but this discovery shows there is also a type of brain cell sensitive to the distance and direction of objects that can store object locations on these maps.