We investigated the role of geographical slant in simple navigation and spatial memory tasks, using an outdoor virtual environment. The whole environment could be slanted by an angle of 4◦. Subjects could interact with the virtual environment by pedaling with force-feedback on a bicycle simulator (translation) or by hitting buttons (discrete rotations in 60◦ steps). After memory acquisition, sp...

It has been shown that multisensory presentation can improve perception, attention, and object memory compared with unisensory presentation. Consequently, we expect that multisensory presentation of landmarks can improve spatial memory and navigation. In this study we tested the effect of visual, auditory and combined landmark presentations in virtual mazes on spatial memory and spatial navigat...

The hippocampal system appears to be critically important in establishing episodic memory of both internal and external events within contexts as well as spatial memory, which enables flexible spatial navigation. However, the neuronal substrates that function across different memories in the hippocampal system are poorly understood. I monitored large-scale activity patterns of hippocampal neuro...

The spatial knowledge used for human navigation has traditionally been separated into three categories: landmark, route, and survey knowledge. While behavioral research has retained this framework, it has become increasingly clear from recent neuroimaging studies that such a classification system is not adequate for understanding the brain. This review proposes a new framework, with a taxonomy ...

The paper gives a brief overview of the interdisciplinary DFG priority program on spatial cognition and presents one specific theme which was the topic of a recent workshop in Göttingen in some more detail. A taxonomy of landmark, route, and survey knowledge for navigation tasks proposed at the workshop is presented. Different ways of acquiring route knowledge are discussed. The importance of e...

The paper gives a brief overview of the interdisciplinary DFG priority program on spatial cognition and presents one specific theme which was the topic of a recent workshop in Göttingen in some more detail. A taxonomy of landmark, route, and survey knowledge for navigation tasks proposed at the workshop is presented. Different ways of acquiring route knowledge are discussed. The importance of e...

Low-frequency (delta/theta band) hippocampal neural oscillations play prominent roles in computational models of spatial navigation, but their exact function remains unknown. Some theories propose they are primarily generated in response to sensorimotor processing, while others suggest a role in memory-related processing. We directly recorded hippocampal EEG activity in patients undergoing seiz...

INTRODUCTION Hippocampal oscillations have been regularly described as playing a dominant role in spatial memory and navigation in rodents. In humans, the relative role of anterior versus posterior rhythms during navigational memory is not established. METHODS Here, we tested this hypothesis using direct brain ECoG recordings in the anterior and posterior hippocampus of a patient, in a naviga...

Models of the spatial knowledge people acquire from maps and navigation and the procedures required for spatial judgments using this knowledge are proposed. From a map, people acquire survey knowledge encoding global spatial relations. This knowledge resides in memory in images that can be scanned and measured like a physical map. From navigation, people acquire procedural knowledge of the rout...