Spatial memory is an essential resource that is used by individuals every day, be it navigating to work, to school, or back home. The study of how individuals learn new spatial environments is particularly important with regards to aging, because spatial memory deteriorates with age and disease (e.g., Alzheimer's disease), and deterioration can have a significant impact on individuals' lives. Despite decades of research, one issue that has been particularly difficult to study is the development of spatial memories and cognitive maps in large scale, real-world environments. Specifically, how do individuals translate their exposure to a new environment into an understanding of that environment? This issue is extremely important for understanding why spatial learning may become difficult as individuals age or how spatial confusion could be minimized. The PI has developed research software that utilizes Google Street View, to rapidly and easily virtualize real-world environments. Using this software, the researchers will investigate how spatial representations that support navigation in familiar environments develop over time, both cognitively and neurally. Inspired by animal research showing that hippocampal place-cells, which track an animal's position in space while it navigates, replay during periods of quiet wakefulness after a novel environment is experienced, we hypothesize that, in humans, the kind of cognitive maps that develop can be influenced by having participants selectively reminisce about certain aspects of recent navigation experiences. The first experiment will use a novel training paradigm, wherein participants will learn an environment by navigating through it, and memory retrieval tasks will be used to affect the kinds of cognitive maps that individuals then form. Cognitive maps will then be assessed by examining how participants navigate novel routes in the learned environment. This experiment will be followed by an fMRI study, which will examine the neural representations of space that develop over the training period, investigating how dynamic activity in areas such as the hippocampus support specific aspects of navigation and how this activity changes based on experience and on the kind of memory retrieval tasks that are influencing the development of the cognitive maps. This work will be the first to provide a framework for the development of cognitive maps in large scale, real-world environments, as well as the first investigation of the hypothesis that post-encoding memory retrieval can influence the kinds of cognitive maps that develop. These findings will have broad appeal to the research community but also, potentially, practical and clinical relevance, especially for older adults or individuals with selective hippocampal impairments.

Public Health Relevance

As people age there is a marked decrease in spatial memory, which can often lead to a decreased capacity to navigate in the world and a loss of independence. This project will investigate the neural and cognitive bases of how unfamiliar, real-world environments are learned over time, and whether this learning can be impacted by memory retrieval tasks. This research will provide better understanding of how spatial memories develop, and may ultimately lead to new interventions and strategies to slow spatial memory decline in our growing population of over 46 million Americans over the age of 65.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Academic Research Enhancement Awards (AREA) (R15)
Project #
1R15NS104979-01
Application #
9441438
Study Section
Cognition and Perception Study Section (CP)
Program Officer
Babcock, Debra J
Project Start
2018-06-15
Project End
2021-06-14
Budget Start
2018-06-15
Budget End
2021-06-14
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2018
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
College at Geneseo
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
129081332
City
Geneseo
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
14454