Mice create mental maps like humans, reveals study led by Prof. Maurício from the PPGFSC
Mice tested in the study were able to create mental maps without using visual references. Photo: Reproduction/Getty Images
Have you ever tried walking in the dark and, even without seeing, managed to find your way? This happens because the human brain is capable of calculating where we are based on our own movements, without relying on visual reference points like signs or buildings.
A study led by Professor Maurício Girardi-Schappo from the Neurophysics Lab, from the Department of Physics at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), revealed through experimental tests that, like humans, mice are capable of creating mental maps without using visual references.
According to the international biology journal eLife, where the research was published in November 2024, the documentation of animals’ ability to build cognitive maps is “something rarely, if ever, reported outside the literature on human beings.” The journal also classified the work as “fundamental” for the advancement of fields such as biology, neuroscience, and cognitive psychology.
The study was developed in collaboration with researchers Leonard Maler, André Longtin, and Jean-Claude Béïque, and with doctoral student Jiayun Xu from the Center for Neural Dynamics and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Ottawa, in Canada.
According to Professor Schappo, the discovery contributes to breaking the premise that humans occupy a “privileged position” both within the universe and among different animal species. “For centuries, science has been deconstructing this idea, but in recent decades we’ve begun to have better tools to dismantle it,” he says.
