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  • Predictive maps in rats and humans for spatial navigation

    Highlights We tested humans, rats, and RL agents on a novel modular maze Humans and rats were remarkably similar in their choice of trajectories Both species were most similar to agents utilizing a SR Humans also displayed features of model-based planning in early trials Authors William de Cothi, Nils Nyberg, Eva-Maria Griesbauer, …,E ́ le onore Duvelle, Caswell…

  • The eels are back

    Suddenly after years of decline the eels are back swimming up the rivers in the west coasts of Europe in their millions.  We think that their arrival is the result of a truly remarkable journey from their breeding grounds in the Saragossa Sea off Bermuda. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eel_life_history for more history. There is also the Sustainable Eel Group www.sustainableeelgroup.com

  • The hippocampus of rats

    Prof Kate Jeffery has done some very interesting work on how the hippocampus of rats processes navigational information. Scientists are clear that the hippocampus is critical for navigation but believe that it is only one part of a larger system that has many functions including recognising landmarks, computing distances and directions etc. and forming memories….

  • Elephant Seals

    Elephant seals (sea elephants) are large, oceangoing seals in the genus Mirounga. There are two species: the northern elephant seal (M. angustirostris) and the southern elephant seal (M. leonina). Both were hunted to the brink of extinction by the end of the 19th century, but numbers have since recovered. The northern elephant seal, somewhat smaller than its southern relative, ranges over the Pacific coast of the U.S., Canada and Mexico….

  • Hippocampus by Simon Raggett

    I was at a lecture on animal navigation at the Royal Society this week. Nothing world changing, but possibly some useful bits of background regarding navigation. This deals with the mammal brain, but given the similarities in behaviour between mammals and birds one can assume the birds might achieve some similar process. The important brain…