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Puthusseryppady V, Cossio D, Yu S, Rezwana F, Hegarty M, Jacobs EG, Chrastil ER. Less spatial exploration is associated with poorer spatial memory in midlife adults. Front Aging Neurosci 2024; 16:1382801. [PMID: 38919601 PMCID: PMC11196421 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1382801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Despite its importance for navigation, very little is known about how the normal aging process affects spatial exploration behavior. We aimed to investigate: (1) how spatial exploration behavior may be altered early in the aging process, (2) the relationship between exploration behavior and subsequent spatial memory, and (3) whether exploration behavior can classify participants according to age. Methods Fifty healthy young (aged 18-28) and 87 healthy midlife adults (aged 43-61) freely explored a desktop virtual maze, learning the locations of nine target objects. Various exploration behaviors (object visits, distance traveled, turns made, etc.) were measured. In the test phase, participants navigated from one target object to another without feedback, and their wayfinding success (% correct trials) was measured. Results In the exploration phase, midlife adults exhibited less exploration overall compared to young adults, and prioritized learning target object locations over maze layout. In the test phase, midlife adults exhibited less wayfinding success when compared to the young adults. Furthermore, following principal components analysis (PCA), regression analyses indicated that both exploration quantity and quality components were associated with wayfinding success in the midlife group, but not the young adults. Finally, we could classify participants according to age with similar accuracy using either their exploration behavior or wayfinding success scores. Discussion Our results aid in the understanding of how aging impacts spatial exploration, and encourages future investigations into how pathological aging may affect spatial exploration behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vaisakh Puthusseryppady
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Daniela Cossio
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Shuying Yu
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
| | - Farnaz Rezwana
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Mary Hegarty
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
| | - Emily G. Jacobs
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
| | - Elizabeth R. Chrastil
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
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Weisberg SM, Ebner NC, Seidler RD. Getting LOST: A conceptual framework for supporting and enhancing spatial navigation in aging. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2024; 15:e1669. [PMID: 37933623 PMCID: PMC10939954 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Revised: 10/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/08/2023]
Abstract
Spatial navigation is more difficult and effortful for older than younger individuals, a shift which occurs for a variety of neurological, physical, and cognitive reasons associated with aging. Despite a large body of evidence documenting age-related deficits in spatial navigation, comparatively less research addresses how to facilitate more effective navigation behavior for older adults. Since navigation challenges arise for a variety of reasons in old age, a one-size-fits-all solution is unlikely to work. Here, we introduce a framework for the variety of spatial navigation challenges faced in aging, which we call LOST-Location, Orientation, Spatial mapping, and Transit. The LOST framework builds on evidence from the cognitive neuroscience of spatial navigation, which reveals distinct components underpinning human wayfinding. We evaluate research on navigational aids-devices and depictions-which help people find their way around; and we reflect on how navigation aids solve (or fail to solve) specific wayfinding difficulties faced by older adults. In summary, we emphasize a bespoke approach to improving spatial navigation in aging, which focuses on tailoring navigation solutions to specific navigation challenges. Our hope is that by providing precise support to older navigators, navigation opportunities can facilitate independence and exploration, while minimizing the danger of becoming lost. We conclude by delineating critical knowledge gaps in how to improve older adults' spatial navigation capacities that the novel LOST framework could guide to address. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Development and Aging Neuroscience > Cognition Neuroscience > Behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven M. Weisberg
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, 945 Center Dr., Gainesville, FL 32611
- Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, 1225 Center Dr., Gainesville, FL 32611
| | - Natalie C. Ebner
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, 945 Center Dr., Gainesville, FL 32611
- Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, 1225 Center Dr., Gainesville, FL 32611
- Institute on Aging, University of Florida, 2004 Mowry Rd., Gainesville, FL 32611
- Department of Physiology and Aging, University of Florida, 1345 Center Drive, Gainesville, FL 32610-0274
| | - Rachael D. Seidler
- Department of Applied Physiology & Kinesiology, University of Florida, 1864 Stadium Rd., Gainesville, FL 32611
- Department of Neurology, University of Florida, 1149 Newell Dr., Gainesville, FL 32611
- Normal Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, 3009 SW Williston Rd. 1864 Stadium Rd., Gainesville, FL 32608
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Segen V, Avraamides MN, Slattery T, Wiener JM. Biases in object location estimation: The role of rotations and translation. Atten Percept Psychophys 2023; 85:2307-2320. [PMID: 37258895 PMCID: PMC10584736 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-023-02716-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Spatial memory studies often employ static images depicting a scene, an array of objects, or environmental features from one perspective and then following a perspective-shift-prompt memory either of the scene or objects within the scene. The current study investigated a previously reported systematic bias in spatial memory where, following a perspective shift from encoding to recall, participants indicated the location of an object farther to the direction of the shift. In Experiment 1, we aimed to replicate this bias by asking participants to encode the location of an object in a virtual room and then indicate it from memory following a perspective shift induced by camera translation and rotation. In Experiment 2, we decoupled the influence of camera translations and rotations and examined whether adding additional objects to the virtual room would reduce the bias. Overall, our results indicate that camera translations result in greater systematic bias than camera rotations. We propose that the accurate representation of camera translations requires more demanding mental computations than camera rotations, leading to greater uncertainty regarding the location of an object in memory. This uncertainty causes people to rely on an egocentric anchor, thereby giving rise to the systematic bias in the direction of camera translation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladislava Segen
- Aging and Dementia Research Centre, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK.
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK.
- German Centre for Neurodegenerative Disease, Magdeburg, Germany.
| | - Marios N Avraamides
- Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
- CYENS Centre of Excellence, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | | | - Jan M Wiener
- Aging and Dementia Research Centre, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
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Segen V, Avraamides M, Slattery T, Colombo G, Wiener JM. Comparable performance on a spatial memory task in data collected in the lab and online. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0259367. [PMID: 34843521 PMCID: PMC8629284 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Online data collection offers a wide range of benefits including access to larger and more diverse populations, together with a reduction in the experiment cycle. Here we compare performance in a spatial memory task, in which participants had to estimate object locations following viewpoint shifts, using data from a controlled lab-based setting and from an unsupervised online sample. We found that the data collected in a conventional laboratory setting and those collected online produced very similar results, although the online data was more variable with standard errors being about 10% larger than those of the data collected in the lab. Overall, our findings suggest that spatial memory studies using static images can be successfully carried out online with unsupervised samples. However, given the higher variability of the online data, it is recommended that the online sample size is increased to achieve similar standard errors to those obtained in the lab. For the current study and data processing procedures, this would require an online sample 25% larger than the lab sample.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladislava Segen
- Aging and Dementia Research Center, Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Marios Avraamides
- Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
- CYENS Center of Excellence Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Timothy Slattery
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom
| | - Giorgio Colombo
- ETH Zurich, Future Health Technologies, Singapore-ETH Center, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Jan Malte Wiener
- Aging and Dementia Research Center, Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom
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Abstract
The aim of the current study was to develop a novel task that allows for the quick assessment of spatial memory precision with minimal technical and training requirements. In this task, participants memorized the position of an object in a virtual room and then judged from a different perspective, whether the object has moved to the left or to the right. Results revealed that participants exhibited a systematic bias in their responses that we termed the reversed congruency effect. Specifically, they performed worse when the camera and the object moved in the same direction than when they moved in opposite directions. Notably, participants responded correctly in almost 100% of the incongruent trials, regardless of the distance by which the object was displaced. In Experiment 2, we showed that this effect cannot be explained by the movement of the object on the screen, but that it relates to the perspective shift and the movement of the object in the virtual world. We also showed that the presence of additional objects in the environment reduces the reversed congruency effect such that it no longer predicts performance. In Experiment 3, we showed that the reversed congruency effect is greater in older adults, suggesting that the quality of spatial memory and perspective-taking abilities are critical. Overall, our results suggest that this effect is driven by difficulties in the precise encoding of object locations in the environment and in understanding how perspective shifts affect the projected positions of the objects in the two-dimensional image.
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