Behavioral and Neural Representations of Spatial Directions across Words, Schemas, and Images.

Modern spatial navigation requires fluency with multiple representational formats, including visual scenes, signs, and words. These formats convey different information. Visual scenes are rich and specific but contain extraneous details. Arrows, as an example of signs, are schematic representations in which the extraneous details are eliminated, but analog spatial properties are preserved. Words eliminate all spatial information and convey spatial directions in a purely abstract form. How does the human brain compute spatial directions within and across these formats? To investigate this question, we conducted two experiments on men and women: a behavioral study that was preregistered and a neuroimaging study using multivoxel pattern analysis of fMRI data to uncover similarities and differences among representational formats. Participants in the behavioral study viewed spatial directions presented as images, schemas, or words (e.g., "left"), and responded to each trial, indicating whether the spatial direction was the same or different as the one viewed previously. They responded more quickly to schemas and words than images, despite the visual complexity of stimuli being matched. Participants in the fMRI study performed the same task but responded only to occasional catch trials. Spatial directions in images were decodable in the intraparietal sulcus bilaterally but were not in schemas and words. Spatial directions were also decodable between all three formats. These results suggest that intraparietal sulcus plays a role in calculating spatial directions in visual scenes, but this neural circuitry may be bypassed when the spatial directions are presented as schemas or words.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Human navigators encounter spatial directions in various formats: words ("turn left"), schematic signs (an arrow showing a left turn), and visual scenes (a road turning left). The brain must transform these spatial directions into a plan for action. Here, we investigate similarities and differences between neural representations of these formats. We found that bilateral intraparietal sulci represent spatial directions in visual scenes and across the three formats. We also found that participants respond quickest to schemas, then words, then images, suggesting that spatial directions in abstract formats are easier to interpret than concrete formats. These results support a model of spatial direction interpretation in which spatial directions are either computed for real world action or computed for efficient visual comparison.

Charting the development of cognitive mapping.

Developmental research beginning in the 1970s has suggested that children's ability to form cognitive maps reaches adult levels during early adolescence. However, this research has used a variety of testing procedures, often in real-world environments, which have been difficult to share widely across labs and to use to probe components of mapping, individual differences in success, and possible mechanisms of development and reasons for individual variation. In this study, we charted the development of cognitive mapping using a virtual navigation paradigm, Silcton, that allows for testing samples of substantial size in a uniform way and in which adults show marked individual differences in the formation of accurate route representations and/or in route integration. The current study tested children aged between 8 and 16 years. In terms of components of normative development, children's performance reached adult levels of proficiency at around age 12, but route representation progressed significantly more quickly than route integration. In terms of individual differences, by age 12 children could be grouped into the same three categories evident in adults: imprecise navigators (who form only imprecise ideas of routes), non-integrators (who represent routes more accurately but are imprecise in relating two routes), and integrators (who relate the two routes and, thus, form cognitive maps). Thus, individual differences likely originate during childhood. In terms of correlates, perspective-taking skills predicted navigation performance better than mental rotation skills, in accord with the view that perspective taking operates on extrinsic spatial representations, whereas mental rotation taps intrinsic spatial representations.

Sex differences and errors in the use of terrain slope for navigation.

Unlike most of the spatial cues that have received attention, a sloping terrain can be perceived by multimodal sensory inputs (vision, balance, and kinesthesia), making it potentially very salient for navigation. Furthermore, a homogeneous slope can be used like a compass to identify directions (e.g., uphill, downhill, and sideways), but not to determine distances. We briefly review recent evidence on navigation with slope, emphasizing two main findings. On the one hand, we focus on the conspicuous sex difference found in the ability to localize a target in a square, tilted enclosure; this has emerged in human adults and children, and we suggest that it is related to lower awareness of the slope for females. On the other hand, we describe the general pattern of errors that arises when localizing the target during the task; these errors indicate the use of a bi-coordinate representation of the slope. Limitations and ideas for future studies are proposed.

A slippery directional slope: Individual differences in using slope as a directional cue.

Navigators rely on many different types of cues to build representations of large-scale spaces. Sloped terrain is an important cue that has received recent attention in comparative and human spatial research. However, the studies to date have been unable to determine how directional slope information leads to more accurate spatial representations. Moreover, whereas some studies have shown that the inclusion of slope cues improves performance on spatial tasks across participants (Kelly, 2011; Restat, Steck, Mochnatzki, & Mallot, 2004), other research has suggested individual differences in the benefits of slope cues (Chai & Jacobs, 2010; Nardi, Newcombe, & Shipley, 2011). We sought to clarify the role of sloped terrain in improving the representation of large-scale environments. In Experiment 1, participants learned the layout of buildings in one of two desktop virtual environments: either a directionally sloped terrain or a completely flat one. Participants in the sloped environment outperformed those in the flat environment. However, participants used slope information as an additional cue, rather than as a preferred reference direction. In Experiment 2, the two virtual environments were again either flat or sloped, but we increased the complexity of the relations between the slope and the path. In this experiment, better performance in the sloped environment was only seen for participants with good self-reported senses of direction. Taken together, the studies show that slope provides useful information for building environmental representations in simple cases, but that individual differences emerge in more complex situations. We suggest that good and bad navigators use different navigational strategies.

Getting LOST: A conceptual framework for supporting and enhancing spatial navigation in aging.

Spatial navigation is more difficult and effortful for older than younger individuals, a shift which occurs for a variety of neurological, physical, and cognitive reasons associated with aging. Despite a large body of evidence documenting age-related deficits in spatial navigation, comparatively less research addresses how to facilitate more effective navigation behavior for older adults. Since navigation challenges arise for a variety of reasons in old age, a one-size-fits-all solution is unlikely to work. Here, we introduce a framework for the variety of spatial navigation challenges faced in aging, which we call LOST-Location, Orientation, Spatial mapping, and Transit. The LOST framework builds on evidence from the cognitive neuroscience of spatial navigation, which reveals distinct components underpinning human wayfinding. We evaluate research on navigational aids-devices and depictions-which help people find their way around; and we reflect on how navigation aids solve (or fail to solve) specific wayfinding difficulties faced by older adults. In summary, we emphasize a bespoke approach to improving spatial navigation in aging, which focuses on tailoring navigation solutions to specific navigation challenges. Our hope is that by providing precise support to older navigators, navigation opportunities can facilitate independence and exploration, while minimizing the danger of becoming lost. We conclude by delineating critical knowledge gaps in how to improve older adults' spatial navigation capacities that the novel LOST framework could guide to address. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Development and Aging Neuroscience > Cognition Neuroscience > Behavior.

Allocation of Space-Based Attention is Guided by Efficient Comprehension of Spatial Direction.

Spatial navigation is supported by visual cues (e.g., scenes, schemas like arrows, and words) that must be comprehended quickly to facilitate effective transit. People comprehend spatial directions faster from schemas and words than scenes. We hypothesize that this occurs because schemas and words efficiently engage space-based attention, allowing for less costly computations. Here, participants completed a spatial cueing paradigm, and we calculated cue validity effects - how much faster participants responded to validly than invalidly cued locations - for each cue format. We pre-registered Experiment 1 and found significant cue validity effects with schemas and words, but not scenes, suggesting space-based attention was allocated more efficiently with schemas and words than scenes. In Experiment 2, we explicitly instructed participants to interpret the scenes from an egocentric perspective and found that this instruction manipulation still did not result in a significant cue validity effect with scenes. In Experiment 3, we investigated whether the differential effects between conditions were due to costly computations to extract spatial direction and found that increasing cue duration had no influence. In Experiment 4, significant cue validity effects were observed for orthogonal but not non-orthogonal spatial directions, suggesting space-based attention was allocated more efficiently when the spatial direction precisely matched the target location. These findings confirm our hypothesis that efficient allocation of space-based attention is guided by faster spatial direction comprehension. Altogether, this work suggests that schemas and words may be more effective supports than scenes for navigation performance in the real-world.

Real-Time fMRI Neurofeedback Training of Selective Attention in Older Adults.

BACKGROUND: Selective attention declines with age, due to age-related functional changes in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). Real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rtfMRI) neurofeedback has been used in young adults to train volitional control of brain activity, including in dACC. METHODS: For the first time, this study used rtfMRI neurofeedback to train 19 young and 27 older adults in volitional up- or down-regulation of bilateral dACC during a selective attention task. RESULTS: Older participants in the up-regulation condition (experimental group) showed greater reward points and dACC BOLD signal across training sessions, reflective of neurofeedback training success; and faster reaction time and better response accuracy, suggesting behavioral benefits on selective attention. These effects were not observed for older participants in the down-regulation condition (inverse condition control group), supporting specificity of volitional dACC up-regulation training in older adults. These effects were, unexpectedly, also not observed for young participants in the up-regulation condition (age control group), perhaps due to a lack of motivation to continue the training. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide promising first evidence of functional plasticity in dACC in late life via rtfMRI neurofeedback up-regulation training, enhancing selective attention, and demonstrate proof of concept of rtfMRI neurofeedback training in cognitive aging.

Are all types of vertical information created equal?

The vertical component of space occurs in two distinct fashions in natural environments. One kind of verticality is orthogonal-to-horizontal (as in climbing trees, operating in volumetric spaces such as water or air, or taking elevators in multilevel buildings). Another kind of verticality, which might be functionally distinct, comes from navigating on sloped terrain (as in traversing hills or ramps).

Using a picture (or a thousand words) for supporting spatial knowledge of a complex virtual environment.

External representations powerfully support and augment complex human behavior. When navigating, people often consult external representations to help them find the way to go, but do maps or verbal instructions improve spatial knowledge or support effective wayfinding? Here, we examine spatial knowledge with and without external representations in two studies where participants learn a complex virtual environment. In the first study, we asked participants to generate their own maps or verbal instructions, partway through learning. We found no evidence of improved spatial knowledge in a pointing task requiring participants to infer the direction between two targets, either on the same route or on different routes, and no differences between groups in accurately recreating a map of the target landmarks. However, as a methodological note, pointing was correlated with the accuracy of the maps that participants drew. In the second study, participants had access to an accurate map or set of verbal instructions that they could study while learning the layout of target landmarks. Again, we found no evidence of differentially improved spatial knowledge in the pointing task, although we did find that the map group could recreate a map of the target landmarks more accurately. However, overall improvement was high. There was evidence that the nature of improvement across all conditions was specific to initial navigation ability levels. Our findings add to a mixed literature on the role of external representations for navigation and suggest that more substantial intervention-more scaffolding, explicit training, enhanced visualization, perhaps with personalized sequencing-may be necessary to improve navigation ability.

Evaluating the effects of a programming error on a virtual environment measure of spatial navigation behavior.

Relying on shared tasks and stimuli to conduct research can enhance the replicability of findings and allow a community of researchers to collect large data sets across multiple experiments. This approach is particularly relevant for experiments in spatial navigation, which often require the development of unfamiliar large-scale virtual environments to test participants. One challenge with shared platforms is that undetected technical errors, rather than being restricted to individual studies, become pervasive across many studies. Here, we discuss the discovery of a software bug in a virtual environment platform used to investigate individual differences in spatial navigation: Virtual Silcton. The bug, which was difficult to detect for several reasons, resulted in storing the absolute value of a direction in a pointing task rather than the signed direction and rendered the original sign of the direction unrecoverable. To assess the impact of the bug on published findings, we collected a new data set for comparison. Results revealed that although the bug caused suppression in pointing errors and had different effects across people (less accurate navigators had more suppression), the effect of the bug on published data is small, partially explaining the difficulty in detecting the bug. We also used the new data set to develop a tool that allows researchers who have previously used Virtual Silcton to evaluate the impact of the bug on their findings. We summarize the ways that shared open materials, shared data, and collaboration can pave the way for better science to prevent errors in the future. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Spatial direction comprehension in images, arrows, and words in two patients with posterior cortical atrophy.

To successfully move through the world, the brain constructs spatial representations that situate the body within the environment. Communicating spatial directions poses specific challenges to this process, in part because the format through which the information is communicated must be interpreted to match the visual scene the navigator is viewing while traversing that space. For example, if a navigator needs to turn left to reach a goal, the information may be presented in the form of words ("turn left"), schemas (arrows pointing left), or images of the specific left turn. Previous research has suggested unique representations exist for spatial directions within and across modalities. Behavioral data reveal, for instance, that interpreting images seems to require spatial information, whereas words or schemas can be processed using a visual-matching strategy. In the current pre-registered study, we tested two patients with posterior cortical atrophy, who did not have spatial neglect, to determine whether they had general impairments interpreting spatial directions across formats, or specific impairments in particular formats. Our results are consistent with the specific impairment prediction, supporting the idea that interpreting spatial directions in images requires action-relevant spatial processing. We conducted single-case analyses for the patients we tested in comparison to a group of non-clinically diagnosed older adults. Of the two patients, one showed a classical dissociation between a color control task and spatial directions across all modalities. This patient also showed a classical dissociation between images (most impaired) and schemas, and between schemas and words (least impaired). Our findings lend support for a hypothesized hub in the spatial navigation network, which converts format-specific information into actionable spatial directions, and has implications for designing the built environment to optimize for spatial behavior.

Hippocampal volume and navigational ability: The map(ping) is not to scale.

A critical question regards the neural basis of complex cognitive skill acquisition. One extensively studied skill is navigation, with evidence suggesting that humans vary widely in navigation abilities. Yet, data supporting the neural underpinning of these individual differences are mixed. Some evidence suggests robust structure-behavior relations between hippocampal volume and navigation ability, whereas other experiments show no such correlation. We focus on several possibilities for these discrepancies: 1) volumetric hippocampal changes are relevant only at the extreme ranges of navigational abilities; 2) hippocampal volume correlates across individuals but only for specific measures of navigation skill; 3) hippocampal volume itself does not correlate with navigation skill acquisition; connectivity patterns are more relevant. To explore this third possibility, we present a model emphasizing functional connectivity changes, particularly to extra-hippocampal structures. This class of models arises from the premise that navigation is dynamic and that good navigators flexibly solve spatial challenges. These models pave the way for research on other skills and provide more precise predictions for the neural basis of skill acquisition.

Reference frames in spatial communication for navigation and sports: an empirical study in ultimate frisbee players.

BACKGROUND: Reference frames ground spatial communication by mapping ambiguous language (for example, navigation: "to the left") to properties of the speaker (using a Relative reference frame: "to my left") or the world (Absolute reference frame: "to the north"). People's preferences for reference frame vary depending on factors like their culture, the specific task in which they are engaged, and differences among individuals. Although most people are proficient with both reference frames, it is unknown whether preference for reference frames is stable within people or varies based on the specific spatial domain. These alternatives are difficult to adjudicate because navigation is one of few spatial domains that can be naturally solved using multiple reference frames. That is, while spatial navigation directions can be specified using Absolute or Relative reference frames ("go north" vs "go left"), other spatial domains predominantly use Relative reference frames. Here, we used two domains to test the stability of reference frame preference: one based on navigating a four-way intersection; and the other based on the sport of ultimate frisbee. We recruited 58 ultimate frisbee players to complete an online experiment. We measured reaction time and accuracy while participants solved spatial problems in each domain using verbal prompts containing either Relative or Absolute reference frames. Details of the task in both domains were kept as similar as possible while remaining ecologically plausible so that reference frame preference could emerge. RESULTS: We pre-registered a prediction that participants would be faster using their preferred reference frame type and that this advantage would correlate across domains; we did not find such a correlation. Instead, the data reveal that people use distinct reference frames in each domain. CONCLUSION: This experiment reveals that spatial reference frame types are not stable and may be differentially suited to specific domains. This finding has broad implications for communicating spatial information by offering an important consideration for how spatial reference frames are used in communication: task constraints may affect reference frame choice as much as individual factors or culture.

Everyday taxi drivers: Do better navigators have larger hippocampi?

Work with non-human animals and human navigation experts (London taxi drivers) suggests that the size of the hippocampus, particularly the right posterior hippocampus in humans, relates to navigation expertise. Similar observations, sometimes implicating other sections of the hippocampus, have been made for aging populations and for people with neurodegenerative diseases that affect the hippocampus. These data support the hypothesis that hippocampal volume relates to navigation ability. However, the support for this hypothesis is mixed in healthy, young adults, who range widely in their navigation ability. Here, we administered a naturalistic navigation task that measures cognitive map accuracy to a sample of 90 healthy, young adults who also had MRI scans. Using a sequential analysis design with a registered analysis plan, we did not find that navigation ability related to hippocampal volume (total, right only, right posterior only). We conclude that navigation ability in a typical population does not correlate with variations in hippocampal size, and consider possible explanations for this null result.

Beyond small-scale spatial skills: Navigation skills and geoscience education.

BACKGROUND: Research examining the relation between spatial skills and the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields has focused on small-scale spatial skills, even though some STEM disciplines-particularly the geography and geoscience (GEO) fields-involve large-scale spatial thinking at the core of their professional training. In Study 1, we compared large-scale navigation skills of experienced geologists with those of experienced psychologists, using a novel virtual navigation paradigm as an objective measure of navigation skills. In Study 2, we conducted a longitudinal study with novice Geographic Information Systems (GIS) students to investigate baseline navigational competence and improvement over the course of an academic semester. RESULTS: In Study 1, we found that geologists demonstrated higher navigational competence and were more likely to be categorized as integrating separate routes, compared to their non-STEM counterparts. In Study 2, novice GIS students showed superior baseline navigational competence compared to non-STEM students, as well as better spatial working memory and small-scale mental rotation skills, indicating self-selection. In addition, GIS students' spatial skills improved more over the course of a semester than those of non-STEM students. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the importance of large-scale spatial thinking for enrollment and success in the GEO fields but likely also across the broader range of thinking involving spatial distributions. We discuss the potential of GIS tools to develop spatial skills at an early age.

Cognitive Maps: Some People Make Them, Some People Struggle.

The proposal that humans can develop cognitive maps of their environment has a long and controversial history. We suggest an individual-differences approach to this question instead of a normative one. Specifically, there is evidence that some people derive flexible map-like representations from information acquired during navigation whereas others store much less accurate information. Our research uses a virtual-reality paradigm in which two routes are learned and must be related to each other. It defines 3 groups: Integrators, Non-integrators, and Imprecise Navigators. These groups show distinctive patterns of spatial skills and working memory, as well as personality. We contrast our approach with research challenging the cognitive map hypothesis, and offer directions for rapprochement between the two views.

Feel the way with a vibrotactile compass: Does a navigational aid aid navigation?

Knowing where north is provides a navigator with invaluable information for learning and recalling a space, particularly in places with limited navigational cues, like complex indoor environments. Although north is effectively used by orienteers, pilots, and military personnel, very little is known about whether nonexpert populations can or will use north to create an accurate representation of an indoor space. In the current study, we taught people 2 nonoverlapping routes through a complex indoor environment, with which they were not familiar-a university hospital with few windows and several turns. Along 1 route, they wore a vibrotactile compass on their arm, which vibrated continuously indicating the direction of north. Along the other route, they were only told where north was at the start of the route. At the beginning, the end, and back at the beginning of each route, participants pointed to well-known landmarks in the surrounding city and campus (external landmarks), and newly learned landmarks in the hospital (internal landmarks). We found improved performance with the compass only for external landmarks, driven by people's use of the availability of north to orient these judgments. No such improved orientation occurred for the internal landmarks. These findings reveal the utility of vibrotactile compasses for learning new indoor spaces. We speculate that such cues help users map new spaces onto familiar spaces or to familiar reference frames. (PsycINFO Database Record

A CRISPR New World: Attitudes in the Public toward Innovations in Human Genetic Modification.

The potential to genetically modify human germlines has reached a critical tipping point with recent applications of CRISPR-Cas9. Even as researchers, clinicians, and ethicists weigh the scientific and ethical repercussions of these advances, we know virtually nothing about public attitudes on the topic. Understanding such attitudes will be critical to determining the degree of broad support there might be for any public policy or regulation developed for genetic modification research. To fill this gap, we gave an online survey to a large (2,493 subjects) and diverse sample of Americans. Respondents supported genetic modification research, although demographic variables influenced these attitudes-conservatives, women, African-Americans, and older respondents, while supportive, were more cautious than liberals, men, other ethnicities, and younger respondents. Support was also was slightly muted when the risks (unanticipated mutations and possibility of eugenics) were made explicit. The information about genetic modification was also presented as contrasting vignettes, using one of five frames: genetic editing, engineering, hacking, modification, or surgery. Despite the fact that the media and academic use of frames describing the technology varies, these frames did not influence people's attitudes. These data contribute a current snapshot of public attitudes to inform policy with regard to human genetic modification.

Embodied cognition and STEM learning: overview of a topical collection in CR:PI.

Embodied learning approaches emphasize the use of action to support pedagogical goals. A specific version of embodied learning posits an action-to-abstraction transition supported by gesture, sketching, and analogical mapping. These tools seem to have special promise for bolstering learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, but existing efforts need further theoretical and empirical development. The topical collection in Cognitive Research: Principles includes articles aiming to formalize and test the effectiveness of embodied learning in STEM. The collection provides guideposts, staking out the terrain that should be surveyed before larger-scale efforts are undertaken. This introduction provides a broader context concerning mechanisms that can support embodied learning and make it especially well suited to the STEM disciplines.