Psychologist Prof. Dr. Christian Doeller from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences has been studying how the brain navigates using computer games in a scanner. Test subjects navigate virtual cities while brain activity is measured.
Doeller suggests that the brain's navigation system also organizes memory, learning, and knowledge, similar to how notes are arranged spatially. He compares this to sociologist Niklas Luhmann's box of notes, which reflected his cognitive process.
In 2010, Doeller discovered grid cells in humans, showing similarities between human and rodent spatial perception. His current research explores how navigation systems influence decision-making, concept learning, and social interaction.
With a 2.5 million euro Leibniz Prize, Doeller will investigate how the brain processes social learning, including complex experiments where two test subjects perform tasks simultaneously in scanners.
The Max Planck Institute is also researching Alzheimer's and Long Covid, though findings remain unpublished.