In Praise of Walking: A New Scientific Exploration

by Shane O'Mara

Using microelectrodes implanted in the human brain, we have learned that we have place cells too.

They have come to be recognised as the core elements of the cognitive map – they tell you where you are in the world, and they work best, and acquire most information, when we are walking.

Albert Einstein captured this well: ‘Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.’