BPoD has moved!

BPoD has recently changed our domain name - we can now be found at bpod.org.uk

Please update your bookmarks!

Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Bat Nav
19 February 2017

Bat Nav

To plan a route from A to B, we need to know where we are and where we’re going. Place cells in the brain help to map out our current location, yet how the brain deals with destinations used to be a mystery – until a cunning experiment with Egyptian fruit bats like this one. Wearing wireless trackers on their heads, the bats flew towards a perch full of tasty bananas. Researchers found that cells in the hippocampus came alive with activity – vector neurons fizzling with information about the distance to their destination, and the angle of flight required to get there. Place cells are also found in the hippocampus, an area of the brain involved in storing memories. Some researchers are wondering if this connection might explain why human Alzheimer’s sufferers losing their memories also sometimes lose their way.

Written by John Ankers

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.