A mouse’s view of the world, seen through its whiskers

Mice, unlike cats and dogs, are able to move their whiskers to map out their surroundings, much as humans use their fingers to build a 3D picture of a darkened room.

UC Berkeley researchers have for the first time reconstructed the whisker map a mouse creates of its surroundings in order to navigate its world, catch insects and avoid cats.

These are not the typical brain maps that show which brain cells are activated when a particular whisker is tweaked, or, in humans, the so-called homunculus map in the human cortex of touch receptors on the skin.UC Berkeley researchers have for the first time reconstructed the whisker map a mouse creates of its surroundings in order to navigate its world, catch insects and avoid cats.