"Bats' Brain Cells Unify Physical and Social Mapping Abilities"
Researchers have discovered that bats use the same brain cells to map both their physical environment and their social interactions. By studying the brain activity of bats in an artificial cave, the researchers found that certain neurons in the bats' hippocampus fired differently depending on the bat's location and the presence of other bats. The findings suggest that the bats' navigation system serves a dual purpose as a social map, and raise questions about whether this phenomenon extends to other species. The study also supports the concept of mixed selectivity, where single neurons encode multiple features of the environment.