Spatial memory in young adults: Gender differences in egocentric and allocentric performance

Fernández-Baizán, Cristina; Árias, Jorge L.; Méndez, Marta

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2018.09.017

Cited by 33 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Contrary to what was expected, we did not find gender differences in any task. Nevertheless, almost all the studies about spatial performance were done exclusively in men and they were performed in young and adult subjects (34,38). Therefore, their results are not directly comparable with the results presented here.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Egocentric and allocentric spatial memory in healthy aging: performance on real-world tasks

Fernández-Baizán

Díaz-Cáceres

Árias

et al. 2019

Braz J Med Biol Res

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Although normal aging has been related to several cognitive difficulties, other processes have been studied less, such as spatial memory. Our aim was to compare egocentric and allocentric memory in an elderly population using ecological tasks. Twentyeight cognitively unimpaired participants performed Egocentric and Allocentric Spatial Memory Tasks, as well as Spatial Span from CANTAB, Benton's Judge of Line Orientation test (JoLO), and Montreal Cognitive Assessment test (MoCA). The results revealed that younger participants showed better performance than older participants on both the Egocentric and Allocentric Spatial Memory Tasks, although only the Egocentric test was able to discriminate between younger, middle, and older elderly participants. Learning effect was found in Allocentric Spatial Memory Task in younger and older groups, but not in the middle group. Allocentric and egocentric performance was not related to other visuospatial neuropsychological scores and gender did not influence performance in any task. Egocentric and Allocentric Spatial Memory Tasks may be useful tools in early screening for cognitive decline, as they are able to detect age differences in the cognitive unimpaired elderly population.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Egocentric and allocentric spatial memory in healthy aging: performance on real-world tasks

Fernández-Baizán

Díaz-Cáceres

Árias

et al. 2019

Braz J Med Biol Res

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“…Ideally, a future study should be also balanced in sex across the groups, as the current study sample is low on male participants. Sex is known to have a significant effect on spatial abilities, with a specific effect on the ability to form cognitive maps (Moffat et al, 1998;Astur et al, 2004;Iaria et al, 2009b;Liu et al, 2011;Fernandez-Baizan et al, 2019). Thus, in the context of cognitive map formation abilities, keeping the groups balanced can help to remove unexplained variance due to sex from the sample, and investigate the effectiveness of the training program across sex.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Novel Training Program to Improve Human Spatial Orientation: Preliminary Findings

McLaren-Gradinaru

Burles

Dhillon

et al. 2020

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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The ability to form a mental representation of the surroundings is a critical skill for spatial navigation and orientation in humans. Such a mental representation is known as a "cognitive map" and is formed as individuals familiarize themselves with the surrounding, providing detailed information about salient environmental landmarks and their spatial relationships. Despite evidence of the malleability and potential for training spatial orientation skills in humans, it remains unknown if the specific ability to form cognitive maps can be improved by an appositely developed training program. Here, we present a newly developed computerized 12-days training program in a virtual environment designed specifically to stimulate the acquisition of this important skill. We asked 15 healthy volunteers to complete the training program and perform a comprehensive spatial behavioral assessment before and after the training. We asked participants to become familiar with the environment by navigating a small area before slowly building them up to navigate within the larger and more complex environment; we asked them to travel back and forth between environmental landmarks until they had built an understanding of where those landmarks resided with respect to one another. This process repeated until participants had visited every landmark in the virtual town and had learned where each landmark resided with respect to the others. The results of this study confirmed the feasibility of the training program and suggested an improvement in the ability of participants to form mental representations of the spatial surrounding. This study provides preliminary findings on the feasibility of a 12-days program in training spatial orientation skills. We discuss the utility and potential impact of this training program in the lives of the many individuals affected by topographical disorientation as a result of an acquired or developmental condition.

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“…This is an adaptation of the Egocentric Spatial Memory Tasks for adults (Fernandez‐Baizan et al, ; Fernandez‐Baizan et al, ), based on Hashimoto's test for head disorientation assessment (Hashimoto, Tanaka, & Nakano, ). It consists of a square template (90 × 90 cm) placed on the floor and divided into a matrix of nine small squares (3 × 3, 30 × 30 cm each).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Spatial orientation development starts early in childhood (see Fernandez‐Baizan, Arias, & Mendez, ; Fernandez‐Baizan, Arias, & Mendez, for a complete review). While the allocentric framework has been widely studied in normalized developed children in recent years, the egocentric orientation has received less attention (Fernandez‐Baizan, Diaz‐Caceres, Arias, & Mendez, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, it seems important to characterize the execution on egocentric and allocentric spatial orientation taking into account its relationship with these factors. Adult men usually outperform adult women (Fernandez‐Baizan et al, , ), although results in children are contradictory (Juan, Mendez‐Lopez, & Perez‐Hernandez, ; León, Cimadevilla, & Tascón, ; Rodriguez‐Andres, Juan, Mendez‐Lopez, Perez‐Hernandez, & Lluch, ; Sorrentino et al, ), and there is still no agreement on the influence of gender at earlier ages. It is also important to consider that in childhood the ability to orient ourselves in space is related to improvements in other cognitive functions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Egocentric and allocentric spatial memory in typically developed children: Is spatial memory associated with visuospatial skills, behavior, and cortisol?

et al. 2020

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Introduction Spatial orientation relies mainly on two frameworks. The egocentric depends on our own position and point of view. The allocentric relies on remembering, recalling, and recognizing environmental stimuli called landmarks. The aim of this study was to analyze the egocentric and allocentric spatial memory performance in children of different ages using two experimental memory card‐placing tasks. We also aimed to examine relationships between spatial memory and other cognitive, physiological, and behavioral factors that, potentially, could be associated with spatial memory performance. Those were other visuospatial functions, the regular behavior of the child, cortisol levels, and daily life spatial memory. Methods We assessed 62 children (5, 6, and 7 years) using card‐placing tasks. We used RIST for IQ evaluation and subtest from NEPSY‐II for visuospatial ability assessment. Collection of saliva sample was carried out for cortisol analysis. Parents completed BASC questionnaire for behavioral evaluation and ECM‐Q questionnaire for daily life spatial memory evaluation. Results Our results showed that older children performed better on mental rotation. Directionality, map interpretation, and daily memory were directly associated with both egocentric and allocentric orientation. Egocentric performance was positively related to leadership abilities but negatively to depression and atypicality, while allocentric performance was directly associated with adaptive behavior but inversely with hyperactivity. Finally, cortisol values were positively associated with allocentric performance. Conclusions Our study shows the development of different spatial abilities between 5 and 7 years, as well as the relationship between orientation performance, visuospatial skills, behavior, and cortisol.

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Spatial memory in young adults: Gender differences in egocentric and allocentric performance

Cited by 33 publications

References 38 publications

Egocentric and allocentric spatial memory in healthy aging: performance on real-world tasks

Egocentric and allocentric spatial memory in healthy aging: performance on real-world tasks

A Novel Training Program to Improve Human Spatial Orientation: Preliminary Findings

Egocentric and allocentric spatial memory in typically developed children: Is spatial memory associated with visuospatial skills, behavior, and cortisol?

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