scholarly journals Estimation of self-motion duration and distance in rodents

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 160118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Kautzky ◽  
Kay Thurley
Keyword(s):  
Path Integration ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Distance Estimation ◽  
Mongolian Gerbils ◽  
Integration Path ◽  
Virtual Reality Environment ◽  
Motion Cues ◽  
Heading Direction ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
Self Motion

Spatial orientation and navigation rely on information about landmarks and self-motion cues gained from multi-sensory sources. In this study, we focused on self-motion and examined the capability of rodents to extract and make use of information about own movement, i.e. path integration. Path integration has been investigated in depth in insects and humans. Demonstrations in rodents, however, mostly stem from experiments on heading direction; less is known about distance estimation. We introduce a novel behavioural paradigm that allows for probing temporal and spatial contributions to path integration. The paradigm is a bisection task comprising movement in a virtual reality environment in combination with either timing the duration ran or estimating the distance covered. We performed experiments with Mongolian gerbils and could show that the animals can keep track of time and distance during spatial navigation.

scholarly journals Egocentric and Allocentric Spatial Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment with Real-World and Virtual Navigation Tasks: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-116
Author(s):  
Cosimo Tuena ◽  
Valentina Mancuso ◽  
Chiara Stramba-Badiale ◽  
Elisa Pedroli ◽  
Marco Stramba-Badiale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Spatial Memory ◽  
Real World ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Motion Cues ◽  
Self Motion

Background: Spatial navigation is the ability to estimate one’s position on the basis of environmental and self-motion cues. Spatial memory is the cognitive substrate underlying navigation and relies on two different reference frames: egocentric and allocentric. These spatial frames are prone to decline with aging and impairment is even more pronounced in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Objective: To conduct a systematic review of experimental studies investigating which MCI population and tasks are used to evaluate spatial memory and how allocentric and egocentric deficits are impaired in MCI after navigation. Methods: PRISMA and PICO guidelines were applied to carry out the systematic search. Down and Black checklist was used to assess methodological quality. Results: Our results showed that amnestic MCI and AD pathology are the most investigated typologies; both egocentric and allocentric memory are impaired in MCI individuals, and MCI due to AD biomarkers has specific encoding and retrieval impairments; secondly, spatial navigation is principally investigated with the hidden goal task (virtual and real-world version), and among studies involving virtual reality, the privileged setting consists of non-immersive technology; thirdly, despite subtle differences, real-world and virtual versions showed good overlap for the assessment of MCI spatial memory. Conclusion: Considering that MCI is a subclinical entity with potential risk for conversion to dementia, investigating spatial memory deficits with navigation tasks might be crucial to make accurate diagnosis and rehabilitation.

scholarly journals Functional correlates of the lateral and medial entorhinal cortex: objects, path integration and local–global reference frames

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1635) ◽  
pp. 20130369 ◽  
Author(s):  
James J. Knierim ◽  
Joshua P. Neunuebel ◽  
Sachin S. Deshmukh
Keyword(s):  
Entorhinal Cortex ◽  
Path Integration ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
External Input ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
Medial Entorhinal Cortex ◽  
Motion Cues ◽  
Cortical Input ◽  
Self Motion

The hippocampus receives its major cortical input from the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) and the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC). It is commonly believed that the MEC provides spatial input to the hippocampus, whereas the LEC provides non-spatial input. We review new data which suggest that this simple dichotomy between ‘where’ versus ‘what’ needs revision. We propose a refinement of this model, which is more complex than the simple spatial–non-spatial dichotomy. MEC is proposed to be involved in path integration computations based on a global frame of reference, primarily using internally generated, self-motion cues and external input about environmental boundaries and scenes; it provides the hippocampus with a coordinate system that underlies the spatial context of an experience. LEC is proposed to process information about individual items and locations based on a local frame of reference, primarily using external sensory input; it provides the hippocampus with information about the content of an experience.

scholarly journals Both visual and idiothetic cues contribute to head direction cell stability during navigation along complex routes

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (6) ◽  
pp. 2989-3001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan M. Yoder ◽  
Benjamin J. Clark ◽  
Joel E. Brown ◽  
Mignon V. Lamia ◽  
Stephane Valerio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Path Integration ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Cell Activity ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Head Direction ◽  
Motion Cues ◽  
Cell Stability ◽  
Self Motion ◽  
The Relationship

Successful navigation requires a constantly updated neural representation of directional heading, which is conveyed by head direction (HD) cells. The HD signal is predominantly controlled by visual landmarks, but when familiar landmarks are unavailable, self-motion cues are able to control the HD signal via path integration. Previous studies of the relationship between HD cell activity and path integration have been limited to two or more arenas located in the same room, a drawback for interpretation because the same visual cues may have been perceptible across arenas. To address this issue, we tested the relationship between HD cell activity and path integration by recording HD cells while rats navigated within a 14-unit T-maze and in a multiroom maze that consisted of unique arenas that were located in different rooms but connected by a passageway. In the 14-unit T-maze, the HD signal remained relatively stable between the start and goal boxes, with the preferred firing directions usually shifting <45° during maze traversal. In the multiroom maze in light, the preferred firing directions also remained relatively constant between rooms, but with greater variability than in the 14-unit maze. In darkness, HD cell preferred firing directions showed marginally more variability between rooms than in the lighted condition. Overall, the results indicate that self-motion cues are capable of maintaining the HD cell signal in the absence of familiar visual cues, although there are limits to its accuracy. In addition, visual information, even when unfamiliar, can increase the precision of directional perception.

scholarly journals Sources of path integration error in young and aging humans

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Stangl ◽  
Ingmar Kanitscheider ◽  
Martin Riemer ◽  
Ila Fiete ◽  
Thomas Wolbers
Keyword(s):  
Path Integration ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Motion Cues ◽  
Elapsed Time ◽  
Integration Error ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Langevin Diffusion ◽  
Self Motion ◽  
Velocity Input ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractPath integration is a vital function in navigation: it enables the continuous tracking of one’s position in space by integrating self-motion cues. Path integration abilities vary across individuals but tend to deteriorate in old age. The specific causes of path integration errors, however, remain poorly characterized. Here, we combined tests of path integration performance with a novel analysis based on the Langevin diffusion equation, which allowed us to decompose errors into distinct causes that can corrupt path integration computations. Across age groups, the dominant errors were due to noise and a bias in speed estimation. Noise-driven errors accumulated with travel distance not elapsed time, suggesting that the dominant noise originates in the velocity input rather than within the integrator. Age-related declines were traced primarily to a growth in this unbiased noise. Together, these findings shed light on the contributors to path integration error and the mechanisms underlying age-related navigational deficits.

Inference of perceptual priors from path dynamics of passive self-motion

2015 ◽  
Vol 113 (5) ◽  
pp. 1400-1413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Prsa ◽  
Danilo Jimenez-Rezende ◽  
Olaf Blanke
Keyword(s):  
Path Integration ◽  
Bayesian Estimator ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Movement Trajectory ◽  
Motion Cues ◽  
Movement Dynamics ◽  
History Of ◽  
Average Size ◽  
Self Motion ◽  
Over Time

The monitoring of one's own spatial orientation depends on the ability to estimate successive self-motion cues accurately. This process has become to be known as path integration. A feature of sequential cue estimation, in general, is that the history of previously experienced stimuli, or priors, biases perception. Here, we investigate how during angular path integration, the prior imparted by the displacement path dynamics affects the translation of vestibular sensations into perceptual estimates. Subjects received successive whole-body yaw rotations and were instructed to report their position within a virtual scene after each rotation. The overall movement trajectory either followed a parabolic path or was devoid of explicit dynamics. In the latter case, estimates were biased toward the average stimulus prior and were well captured by an optimal Bayesian estimator model fit to the data. However, the use of parabolic paths reduced perceptual uncertainty, and a decrease of the average size of bias and thus the weight of the average stimulus prior were observed over time. The produced estimates were, in fact, better accounted for by a model where a prediction of rotation magnitude is inferred from the underlying path dynamics on each trial. Therefore, when passively displaced, we seem to be able to build, over time, from sequential vestibular measurements an internal model of the vehicle's movement dynamics. Our findings suggest that in ecological conditions, vestibular afference can be internally predicted, even when self-motion is not actively generated by the observer, thereby augmenting both the accuracy and precision of displacement perception.

scholarly journals Visual cue-related activity of cells in the medial entorhinal cortex during navigation in virtual reality

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amina A Kinkhabwala ◽  
Yi Gu ◽  
Dmitriy Aronov ◽  
David W Tank
Keyword(s):  
Entorhinal Cortex ◽  
Path Integration ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Estimation Errors ◽  
Medial Entorhinal Cortex ◽  
Cell Class ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
Self Motion

During spatial navigation, animals use self-motion to estimate positions through path integration. However, estimation errors accumulate over time and it is unclear how they are corrected. Here we report a new cell class (‘cue cell’) encoding visual cues that could be used to correct errors in path integration in mouse medial entorhinal cortex (MEC). During virtual navigation, individual cue cells exhibited firing fields only near visual cues and their population response formed sequences repeated at each cue. These cells consistently responded to cues across multiple environments. On a track with cues on left and right sides, most cue cells only responded to cues on one side. During navigation in a real arena, they showed spatially stable activity and accounted for 32% of unidentified, spatially stable MEC cells. These cue cell properties demonstrate that the MEC contains a code representing spatial landmarks, which could be important for error correction during path integration.

scholarly journals Sense of self impacts spatial navigation and hexadirectional coding in human entorhinal cortex

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyuk-June Moon ◽  
Baptiste Gauthier ◽  
Hyeong-Dong Park ◽  
Nathan Faivre ◽  
Olaf Blanke
Keyword(s):  
Entorhinal Cortex ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Cell Activity ◽  
Grid Cell ◽  
Retrosplenial Cortex ◽  
Data Link ◽  
Motion Cues ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
Self Motion

AbstractGrid cells in entorhinal cortex (EC) encode an individual’s location in space and rely on environmental cues and self-motion cues derived from the individual’s body. Body-derived signals are also primary signals for the sense of self as located in space (i.e. bodily self-consciousness, BSC). However, it is currently unknown whether BSC impacts grid cell activity and how such changes relate to experimental modulations of BSC. Integrating BSC with a spatial navigation task and an fMRI measure to detect grid cell-like representation (GCLR) in humans, we report a robust GCLR modulation in EC when participants navigated during an enhanced BSC state. These changes were further associated with improved spatial navigation performance and increased activity in posterior parietal and retrosplenial cortex. These data link entorhinal grid cell activity with BSC and show that BSC modulates ego-versus allocentric spatial processes about an individual’s location in space in a distributed spatial navigation system.

scholarly journals Activity Strength within Optic Flow-Sensitive Cortical Regions Is Associated with Visual Path Integration Accuracy in Aged Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 245
Author(s):  
Lauren Zajac ◽  
Ronald Killiany
Keyword(s):  
Motion Perception ◽  
Optic Flow ◽  
Path Integration ◽  
Visual Motion ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Motion Processing ◽  
Global Pattern ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Cortical Regions ◽  
Self Motion

Spatial navigation is a cognitive skill fundamental to successful interaction with our environment, and aging is associated with weaknesses in this skill. Identifying mechanisms underlying individual differences in navigation ability in aged adults is important to understanding these age-related weaknesses. One understudied factor involved in spatial navigation is self-motion perception. Important to self-motion perception is optic flow–the global pattern of visual motion experienced while moving through our environment. A set of optic flow-sensitive (OF-sensitive) cortical regions was defined in a group of young (n = 29) and aged (n = 22) adults. Brain activity was measured in this set of OF-sensitive regions and control regions using functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants performed visual path integration (VPI) and turn counting (TC) tasks. Aged adults had stronger activity in RMT+ during both tasks compared to young adults. Stronger activity in the OF-sensitive regions LMT+ and RpVIP during VPI, not TC, was associated with greater VPI accuracy in aged adults. The activity strength in these two OF-sensitive regions measured during VPI explained 42% of the variance in VPI task performance in aged adults. The results of this study provide novel support for global motion processing as a mechanism underlying visual path integration in normal aging.

scholarly journals Rotational Self-motion Cues Improve Spatial Learning when Teleporting in Virtual Environments

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex F. Lim ◽  
Jonathan W. Kelly ◽  
Nathan C. Sepich ◽  
Lucia A. Cherep ◽  
Grace C. Freed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Spatial Learning ◽  
Motion Cues ◽  
Self Motion

Impacts of Rotation Axis and Frequency on Vestibular Perceptual Thresholds

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Andrew R. Wagner ◽  
Megan J. Kobel ◽  
Daniel M. Merfeld
Keyword(s):  
Multisensory Integration ◽  
Rotation Axis ◽  
Semicircular Canals ◽  
Rotation Velocity ◽  
Pass Filter ◽  
Motion Cues ◽  
Left Posterior ◽  
Rotation Plane ◽  
Self Motion ◽  
Lower Frequencies

Abstract In an effort to characterize the factors influencing the perception of self-motion rotational cues, vestibular self-motion perceptual thresholds were measured in 14 subjects for rotations in the roll and pitch planes, as well as in the planes aligned with the anatomic orientation of the vertical semicircular canals (i.e., left anterior, right posterior; LARP, and right anterior, left posterior; RALP). To determine the multisensory influence of concurrent otolith cues, within each plane of motion, thresholds were measured at four discrete frequencies for rotations about earth-horizontal (i.e., tilts; EH) and earth-vertical axes (i.e., head positioned in the plane of the rotation; EV). We found that the perception of rotations, stimulating primarily the vertical canals, was consistent with the behavior of a high-pass filter for all planes of motion, with velocity thresholds increasing at lower frequencies of rotation. In contrast, tilt (i.e, EH rotation) velocity thresholds, stimulating both the canals and otoliths (i.e., multisensory integration), decreased at lower frequencies and were significantly lower than earth-vertical rotation thresholds at each frequency below 2 Hz. These data suggest that multisensory integration of otolithic gravity cues with semicircular canal rotation cues enhances perceptual precision for tilt motions at frequencies below 2 Hz. We also showed that rotation thresholds, at least partially, were dependent on the orientation of the rotation plane relative to the anatomical alignment of the vertical canals. Collectively these data provide the first comprehensive report of how frequency and axis of rotation influence perception of rotational self-motion cues stimulating the vertical canals.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document