Can Grid Cells Help Us Understand The Brain?

Abstract

This article is based on an interview between the two authors.Grid cells are special brain cells that play a key role in the brain’s navigation system. Research on these cells is one of the most interesting and rapidly advancing topics in brain science today. Much has changed since my colleagues and I discovered grid cells in 2005, and even since we were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2014. In this article, I will describe the advancements that transformed the field of grid cell research and tell you about the way that we study grid cells today. Finally, I will give you a peek into how we hope to use our understanding of grid cells as a “window” to understanding the brain as a whole.