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Spontaneous navigational strategies and performance in the virtual town
Author(s) -
Etchamendy Nicole,
Bohbot Veronique D.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
hippocampus
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.767
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1098-1063
pISSN - 1050-9631
DOI - 10.1002/hipo.20303
Subject(s) - spatial memory , functional magnetic resonance imaging , psychology , task (project management) , hippocampus , cognitive psychology , virtual reality , neuroscience , virtual machine , response inhibition , spatial cognition , caudate nucleus , computer science , human–computer interaction , working memory , cognition , management , economics , operating system
The 4‐on‐8 virtual maze provides evidence for variability in spontaneous strategy use during navigation. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirmed that these spatial and response strategies rely on the hippocampus and caudate nucleus memory systems, respectively. We asked whether the spontaneous use of a particular navigational strategy was associated with a particular ability to navigate in one's environment. We tested 30 young participants on the 4‐on‐8 virtual maze and we assessed their way finding ability in a virtual town. As expected, spatial learners performed well in the virtual town and the response learners, who never used external landmarks and relied purely on an egocentric strategy, performed poorly. Interestingly, a group who used the most efficient response strategy based on external landmarks in the 4‐on‐8 virtual maze, switched to the most efficient spatial strategy in the virtual town. Our data suggest that the best navigators are those who appropriately use spatial or response strategies depending on the demands of the task. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.