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Human EEG Correlates of Spatial Navigation within Egocentric and Allocentric Reference Frames

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Spatial Cognition VII (Spatial Cognition 2010)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 6222))

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Abstract

We investigated the impact of path complexity on brain dynamics of subjects who preferentially use an egocentric (Turners) or an allocentric (Nonturners) reference frame during spatial navigation. Participants indicated a return bearing direction (‘point-to-origin’) following visual presentation of virtual tunnel passages, varying with respect to the complexity of the outbound path. High-density electroencephalographic activity was recorded continuously and spatially filtered with Independent Component Analysis. For Turners, rotations and translations were associated with decreased and increased (8-12 Hz) alpha activity in occipito-parietal cortex, whereas Nonturners displayed increased alpha within cortical areas along the ventral pathway, as well as in retrosplenial cortex, an area supporting bidirectional exchange of information between parietal and medial temporal regions. Both groups displayed complexity-related modulations of frontal midline (4-8 Hz) theta activity. Findings extend results of hemodynamic imaging and neuropsychological studies on spatial navigation and emphasize the need for considering individual proclivities when investigating human navigation performance.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Neural Computation, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0523, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Markus Plank

  2. Allgemeine und Experimentelle Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstr. 13, 80802, München, Germany

    Hermann J. Müller

  3. Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0559, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Julie Onton, Scott Makeig & Klaus Gramann

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  1. Markus Plank
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  2. Hermann J. Müller
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  3. Julie Onton
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  4. Scott Makeig
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  5. Klaus Gramann
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Cognitive Science, Institute of Computer Science and Social Research, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Friedrichstraße 50, 79098, Freiburg, Germany

    Christoph Hölscher

  2. Department of Psychology, Temple University, Weiss Hall 1701 North 13th Street, 19122-6085, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Thomas F. Shipley  & Nora S. Newcombe  & 

  3. Department of Psychology, ’Sapienza’ University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Marta Olivetti Belardinelli

  4. FB 10, Faculty of Linguistics and Literary Sciences, University of Bremen, Building GW2, Bibliothekstraße 1, 28334, Bremen, Germany

    John A. Bateman

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Plank, M., Müller, H.J., Onton, J., Makeig, S., Gramann, K. (2010). Human EEG Correlates of Spatial Navigation within Egocentric and Allocentric Reference Frames. In: Hölscher, C., Shipley, T.F., Olivetti Belardinelli, M., Bateman, J.A., Newcombe, N.S. (eds) Spatial Cognition VII. Spatial Cognition 2010. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 6222. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14749-4_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14749-4_18

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