Researchers identify ‘social place cells’ in the brain that respond to the locations of others

Whether we’re playing a team sport or just strolling with our family through the park, we’re continually aware of the positions of those around us – and where each is heading. Scientists have, in recent decades, pinpointed neurons called “place cells” in our brains that encode our own location in the environment, but how our brains represent the positions of others has been a mystery. New Weizmann Institute of Science research in bats, which was published in Science, reveals a sub-population of neurons that encode the specific location of other bats that are flying nearby.