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Finding Our Way>>>马上在线咨询

A "Drive 200 yards, andthen turn right," says the car's computer voice. You relax in the driver'sseat, follow the directions and reach your destination without error. It'scertainly nice to have the Global Positioning System (GPS) to direct you towithin a few yards of your goal. Yet if the satellite service's digital mapsbecome even slightly outdated, you can become lost. Then you have to rely onthe ancient human skill of navigating in three-dimensional space. Luckily, yourbiological finder has an important advantage over GPS: it does not go awry ifonly one part of the guidance system goes wrong, because it works in variousways. You can ask questions of people on the sidewalk. Or follow a street that looksfamiliar. Or rely on a navigational rubric: "If I keep the East River onmy left, I will eventually cross 34th Street." The human positioningsystem is flexible and capable of learning. Anyone who knows the way from pointA to point B--and from A to C--can probably figure out how to get from B to C,too.

B But how does this complexcognitive system really work? Researchers are looking at several strategiespeople use to orient themselves in space: guidance, path integration and routefollowing. We may use all three or combinations thereof. And as experts learnmore about these navigational skills, they are making the case that ourabilities may underlie our powers of memory and logical thinking. GrandCentral, Please Imagine that you have arrived in a place you have nevervisited--New York City. You get off the train at Grand Central Terminal inmidtown Manhattan. You have a few hours to explore before you must return foryour ride home. You head uptown to see popular spots you have been told about: RockefellerCenter, Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You meander in and out ofshops along the way. Suddenly, it is time to get back to the station. But how?

C If you ask passersby for help,most likely you will receive information in many different forms. A person whoorients herself by a prominent landmark would gesture southward: "Lookdown there. See the tall, broad MetLife Building? Head for that--the station isright below it." Neurologists call this navigational approach "guidance,"meaning that a landmark visible from a

distance serves as the marker for one's destination.

D Another city dweller mightsay: "What places do you remember passing?...Okay. Go toward the end ofCentral Park, then walk down to St. Patrick's Cathedral. A few more blocks, andGrand Central will be off to your left." In this case, you are pointedtoward the most recent place you recall, and you aim for it. Once there youhead for the next notable place and so on, retracing your path. Your brain isadding together the individual legs of your trek into a cumulative progressreport. Researchers call this strategy "path integration." Manyanimals rely primarily on path integration to get around, including insects,spiders, crabs and rodents. The desert ants of the genus Cataglyphis (沙蚁) employ this method to returnfrom foraging as far as 100 yards away. They note the general direction theycame from and retrace their steps, using the polarization of sunlight to orientthemselves even under overcast skies. On their way back they are faithful tothis inner homing vector. Even when a scientist picks up an ant and puts it ina totally different spot,

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