Elsevier

Behavioural Brain Research

Volume 192, Issue 2, 10 October 2008, Pages 248-253
Behavioural Brain Research

Research report
Mental imagery skills and topographical orientation in humans: A correlation study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2008.04.014Get rights and content

Abstract

Several studies provide evidence that mental imagery is critical for human navigation. However, the contribution of different mental imagery abilities to the individuals’ skill of using specific orientation strategies remains unclear. In the present study we assessed a variety of mental imagery skills and investigated their contribution in relationship with the selective individuals’ ability of forming and using a mental representation of the environment, namely a cognitive map. Indeed, despite the use of alternative strategies that individuals may adopt while moving along the same well-known route, cognitive maps are critical for orientation since they allow individuals to reach any target location from any place in the environment. We found that the ability to form a cognitive map was related to the specific ability of performing mental rotations of simple geometrical shapes, and the ability to imaging ourselves moving on a map. Other imagery skills such as the ability to generate mental images from memory or the ability of mentally manipulate objects were not correlated with the individuals’ performance in forming the cognitive map. Moreover, we revealed gender differences in forming a cognitive map, as well as in performing some of the mental imagery tests. We discuss these findings in order to shed more light on the specific role of mental imagery in human topographical orientation.

Introduction

Topographical orientation is generally defined as the individuals’ ability to become familiar and orient in the environment [1]. This complex phenomenon requires the integrity of several cognitive functions such as visual perception, attention, memory, and decision-making skills [2], [3], which all contribute to successful navigation in both familiar and unfamiliar surroundings. Among these cognitive functions, mental imagery skills have been suggested to be critical for orientating within the environment [2], [4], [5], [6].

In human navigation, mental imagery refers to the individuals’ ability to mentally represent the information available within the environment such as landmarks and routes, and use them for the purpose of orientation [2], [4], [5]. For example, in order to reach different locations, individuals are required to create a mental image (or representation) of the environment in which they are moving, and manipulate and rotate it in order to update their current position with respect to the target location they are aiming to reach. Evidence that imagery skills are critical for orientation is provided by several neuropsychological studies showing that brain-damaged patients impaired in topographical orientation usually report difficulties in “revisualisation” and create internal representation of pathways and landmarks encountered while navigating [7], [8]. Similar imagery defects have been reported in a patient with a congenital brain malformation that resulted in a selective impairment in topographical orientation [9]. Finally, patients with selective mental imagery defects such as representational neglect (i.e. the inability to mentally represent the contralesional part of the environment) are generally reported having navigational and orientation impairments as well [10]. Altogether, these findings are consistent with the critical role of mental imagery in human navigation and orientation.

In the last years, several studies in healthy individuals aimed at investigating the relationship between navigational skills and specific mental imagery abilities, such as the ability to mentally rotate objects and geometrical figures. For instance, Moffat et al. [11] used a virtual maze test to investigate gender differences in navigational abilities and the correlations with the individuals’ performances in solving spatial mental rotation tasks including the Vandenberg Mental Rotations Test [12], the Guilford-Zimmerman Spatial Orientation Test [13] and the Money Road Map Test of Direction Sense [14]. In this study, participants were required to navigate within a virtual environment appearing as a monochrome layout interconnecting halls and doorways, and were asked to find the exit of the maze as quick as possible. The authors reported that men were better than women in solving the task, and that their performances were positively correlated with their ability to solve the mental imagery tasks. Similar findings have been recently provided by other studies [15], [16] in which participants were required to solve a virtual version of the Morris Water Maze Test [17], consisting of finding a hidden location within the environment. The results of these studies show that men were better than women in solving the navigational task and that such a better performance was significantly correlated with the individuals’ mental rotation abilities.

Studies performed in ecological surroundings are consistent with the findings reported in virtual environments [18], [19], [20], [21]. For instance, Montello et al. [21] found that men outperform women on tests in which they are required learning from direct experiences in new surroundings, as well as in mental rotation and geographic knowledge tests (i.e. to locate 15 cities on a world map). In a different study, Dabbs et al. [19] reported gender differences related to the strategies that individuals adopt while navigating within the environment: while giving directions, men prefer using metric-distances (miles) and north–south–east–west directions, whereas women show a bias in using landmark available within the environment. Importantly, the authors reported that men perform better than women in both mental rotation and geographic knowledge tests.

Although the findings described above provide useful information regarding the relationship between mental imagery skills and the ability to navigate within the environment, it should be noticed that (1) mental imagery skills include different abilities that can be specifically related to navigational environmental information or not and (2) despite the use of alternative strategies, topographical orientation mainly rely on the formation, first, and use, then, of a mental representation of the environment, namely a cognitive map [22], [23]. Indeed, the use of environmental cognitive maps is critical for orienting since it allows individuals to reach any target location starting from any place and by following any route available within the environment. The contribution of different imagery skills to the formation and use of cognitive maps has never been investigated in previous studies.

Here, we aimed at verifying the hypothesis that the ability to form and use environmental cognitive maps is differently related to the mental imagery skills according with the nature of the information that individuals are required to mentally manipulate. First, we made use of a virtual environment in order to assess the individuals’ ability to both form and use a cognitive map of the environment, namely the Cognitive Map Test (CMT) [24]. Then, we assessed the specific contribution of different mental imagery skills related to the individuals’ ability of forming and using an environmental cognitive map, respectively. Finally, in order to shed more light on the findings previously reported in the literature, individuals’ gender differences were investigated while performing both the Cognitive Map Test and the mental imagery tasks.

Section snippets

Participants

Thirty-two healthy subjects with no history of neurological or psychiatric disorders participated in this study. The sample included 15 women (mean age, S.D. = 23.3 years, 3.24; mean education, S.D. = 14.5 years, 1.96) and 17 men (mean age, S.D. = 23.9 years, 4.11; mean education, S.D. = 14.6 years, 2.32). The study was approved by the local Ethics Committee, and all participants gave written informed consent.

Experimental protocol and procedure

Participants performed two experimental sessions. During the first session, they were required

Results

The multiple matrix correlation's coefficients and their statistical significance values are reported in Table 1. The Learning Task resulted to be significant correlated with the Mental Rotation Test (r = −0.37; p < 0.05) (Fig. 2A) and the Road Map Test (r = −0.56; p < 0.001) (B); whereas, the retrieval task was not correlated with any of the mental imagery test. We also found a statistically significant correlation between the Learning and Retrieval Tasks (r = 0.44; p < 0.05) (C). These results reveal

Discussion

In the present study we investigated the relationship between individuals’ topographical orientation skills and mental imagery abilities. More specifically, we assessed the ability of forming and using a cognitive map, which is critical for orienting [22], and the contribution of different mental imagery skills to these abilities. We found that the ability to form a cognitive map of the environment is significantly correlated with the ability to perform mental rotations of simple geometric

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the European Community FPS-Streep-Wayfinding (CG). GI is supported by the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and the Alzheimer Society of Canada.

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