spatialknowledge: landmark processing + route processing + survey processing
individuals have ability to perceptually discriminate and recognize landmarks
individuals can use directional info based on ego centric representation as well as landmarks [turn left at this landmark to reach the next one]
individuas can rely on global representation of enviro, like a map
a person's understnding of the layout, structure and relationships between places or objects in an enviro [landmark,route & survey]
that there are no pure separate stages, survey knowledge begins forming right from the first exposure
changes quantitatively - you gather more info, but the type of knowledge stays similar
no - individuals diff mean that even with the same exposure, peope vary in their spatial understanding
can be both - linguistic spatial knowledge [verbal directions] exists alongside metric spatial knowledge and is not just a precursor to it
parieto-premotor pathway supports visually-guided actions
parieto-prefrontal pathway supports s processing and memory
parieto-medial temporal pathway that supports navigation
found in posterior cingulate cortex [behind corpus callosum]
helps translate between egocentric (self-centered) & allocentric (map-like) representations, crucial for using landmarks to navigate & for integrating spatial memory with current perception.
located in medial TL adjacent to hippocampus
involved in scene recognition & contextual spatial memory, helps encode + retrieve the layout of places & is part of the parahippocampal place area (PPA).
can cause topographicl disorientation - people may recognize landmarks but be unable to use them to navigate
the Cognitive Map Theory - states that hippocampus constructs internal maps of spatial enviros for navigation
neurons in the hippocampus that fire when an individual is in a specific location - support the brain's ability to form spatial maps
discovery of place cells (O'Keefe & Dostrovsky, 1971) + impaire navigation in patients with hippocampal damage (Smith & Milner, 1989) + neuroimaging studies showing hippocampal activation during spatial tasks (Maguire et al., 1998; Hartley et al., 2003)
experienced taxi drivers has larger posterior hippocampi, suggesting structural changes due to long-term spatial navigation
[like animals] most densely clustered in the hippocampus - they recorded brain activity in patients with implanted electrodes as they explored virtual towns
hippocampus - specific locations [place cells] + parahippocampal region - landmarks + frontal lobes - goal-related behaviour + amygdala - some spatial activity, less specific
fire when animals are heading in a certain direction, first described by James Ranck (1985) in hippocampal formation [subiculum]
fire in a regular triangular array or grid of locations, possibly elements of a metric system for spatial navigation - first discovered in the entorhinal cortex (Hafting et al., nature 2005)
John O'Keefe and May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain
a region in posterior parahippocampal corex that responds preferentially to pics of places / landmarks (Epstein & Kanwisher, 1998)
pposterior - landmark agnosia [damage to lingual gyrus as well]
anterior - anterograde disorientation [sometimes retrospinal cortex]
patients report they cannot identify topographical entities such as buildings or streets [sometimes they compensate for this impairment by focusing on particular obj in enviro
exhibit prob of spatial memory - difficulty learning and navigating new enviro despite being able to navigate familiar places normally [known at east 6 months before lesions]
can visually recognize places and buildings, but can't use these landmarks for purposes of orientation [they can look at building & name it but not any other location nearby which is not immediately visible + ego-allocentric transformation probs
relies on landmarks and turn-based routes from your perspective, involves PPA, parietal cortex [precuneus, cuneus, inferior parietal lobule] retrosplenial cortex
uses map-like (survey) strategies, relies on hippocmpus [place cells], entorhinal cortex [grid cells]
e - self centered perspective using routes & landmarks
a - bird's-eye/map-like view using spatial relationships between locations
follows right or bilateral posterior PL lesions - inability to: represent the location of enviro obj with respect to self + point towards locations when eyes closed + learn or recall appropriate spatial direction + disorientation in both novel and familiar environment [landmark recognition is fine, often associated with other visuo-spatial deficits]
test of visuo-spatial memory [not directly related to navigational skills cause processing micro visuo-spatial space can be spared in patients with damage to macro [navigational] space
virtual reality vs real enviro tasks + landmark recog + route learning + WaICT + map following + route/map drawing
rarely evaluated in current clinical neuropsych practice + suitable diagnostic instruments are lacking -
route learning in experimental setting (Piccardi et al., 2014) - participants are asked to learn and reproduce sequences of spatial locations by walking a path shown by experimenter
drawing a map of a familiar enviro or an enviro explored with examiner used to assess survey representation skills
studies spatial learning and memory [esp rodents], animal placed in diff locations in pools across trials + must use visual cues around room to learn platform's fixed location overtime animal swims more directly to platform
a deficit in development of landmark, route or survey knowledge in context of normal intellectual ability in absence of any known perinatal, neurological or psychiatric disorders - selective developmental deficit