Abstract
An animal entering a new environment typically faces three challenges: explore the space for resources, memorize their locations, and navigate towards those targets as needed. Experimental work on exploration, mapping, and navigation has mostly focused on simple environments – such as an open arena [55], a pond [35], or a desert [37] – and much has been learned about neural signals in diverse brain areas under these conditions [11, 45]. However, many natural environments are highly complex, such as a system of burrows, or of intersecting paths through the underbrush. The same applies to many cognitive tasks, that typically allow only a limited set of actions at any given stage in the process. Here we propose an algorithm that learns the structure of a complex environment, discovers useful targets during exploration, and navigates back to those targets by the shortest path. It makes use of a behavioral module common to all motile animals, namely the ability to follow an odor to its source [4]. We show how the brain can learn to generate internal “virtual odors” that guide the animal to any location of interest. This endotaxis algorithm can be implemented with a simple 3-layer neural circuit using only biologically realistic structures and learning rules. Several neural components of this scheme are found in brains from insects to humans. Nature may have evolved a general mechanism for search and navigation on the ancient backbone of chemotaxis.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
{tonyzhang{at}caltech.edu, mhrosenberg{at}caltech.edu, perona{at}caltech.edu, meister{at}caltech.edu}
All new Figures 2-10. Better theory section. Serious treatment of noise. Added treatment of homing and patrolling.
