How does horizontal and vertical navigation influence spatial memory of multifloored environments?

Abstract

Although a number of studies have been devoted to 2-D navigation, relatively little is known about how the brain encodes and recalls navigation in complex multifloored environments. Previous studies have proposed that humans preferentially memorize buildings by a set of horizontal 2-D representations. Yet this might stem from the fact that environments were also explored by floors. Here, we have investigated the effect of spatial learning on memory of a virtual multifloored building. Two groups of 28 participants watched a computer movie that showed either a route along floors one at a time or travel between floors by simulated lifts, consisting in both cases of a 2-D trajectory in the vertical plane. To test recognition, the participants viewed a camera movement that either replicated a segment of the learning route (familiar segment) or did not (novel segment-i.e., shortcuts). Overall, floor recognition was not reliably superior to column recognition, but learning along a floor route produced a better spatial memory performance than did learning along a column route. Moreover, the participants processed familiar segments more accurately than novel ones, not only after floor learning, but crucially, also after column learning, suggesting a key role of the observation mode on the exploitation of spatial memory.

Vertical spatial representation of numbers across two cultures

“…Several studies have reported that memory of vertically explored environments is poorer than that of horizontally explored environments (Hölscher, Meilinger, Vrachliotis, Brösamle, & Knauff, 2006;Jeffery, Jovalekic, Verriotis, & Hayman, 2013;Pasqualotto & Proulx, 2013;Thibault, Pasqualotto, Vidal, Droulez, & Berthoz, 2013). It is possible that a weaker spatial representation indicated, for example, by a poorer memory within the vertical dimension, results in poorer spatially-organised representation of numbers along the respective dimension.…”

Testing Navigation in Real Space: Contributions to Understanding the Physiology and Pathology of Human Navigation Control

“…Everyday life navigation mostly takes place in the horizontal plane. However, in some situations, such as finding the correct way in multi-floor buildings, humans also need to deal with an additional third dimension of space (3D) and to orient themselves correctly in the vertical plane (Thibault et al, 2013;Brandt et al, 2017). Previous studies in different animal species over the last decades revealed an anisotropy of performance and cellular activations in favor of the prevailing plane in groundbased species, such as dogs and rats, as well as flying species, such as bats and hummingbirds (Burt de Perera and Holbrook, 2012; Burt de Perera et al, 2013;Jeffery et al, 2013;Brandt and Dieterich, 2013;Flores-Abreu et al, 2014).…”

The Role of Contextual Info‐Marks in Navigating a Virtual Rural Environment

“…; Thibault et al. ). In a number of instances, distinctive features can be used as landmarks to aid in these navigation processes.…”