Abstract
IntroductionSpatial navigation is a complex cognitive skill that varies between individuals, and the mechanisms underlying this variability are not clear. Studying simpler components of spatial navigation may help illuminate factors that contribute to variation in this complex skill; path integration is one such component. Optic flow provides self‐motion information while moving through an environment and is sufficient for path integration. This study aims to investigate whether self‐reported navigation ability is related to information transfer between optic flow‐sensitive (OF‐sensitive) cortical regions and regions important to navigation during environmental spatial tasks.MethodsFunctional magnetic resonance imaging was used to define OF‐sensitive regions and map their functional connectivity (FC) with the retrosplenial cortex and hippocampus during visual path integration (VPI) and turn counting (TC) tasks. Both tasks presented visual self‐motion through a real‐world environment. Correlations predicting a positive association between self‐reported navigation ability (measured with the Santa Barbara Sense of Direction scale) and FC strength between OF‐sensitive regions and retrosplenial cortex and OF‐sensitive regions and the hippocampus were performed.ResultsDuring VPI, FC strength between left cingulate sulcus visual area (L CSv) and right retrosplenial cortex and L CSv and right hippocampus was positively associated with self‐reported navigation ability. FC strength between right cingulate sulcus visual area (R CSv) and right retrosplenial cortex during VPI was also positively associated with self‐reported navigation ability. These relationships were specific to VPI, and whole‐brain exploratory analyses corroborated these results.ConclusionsThese findings support the hypothesis that perceived spatial navigation ability is associated with communication strength between OF‐sensitive and navigationally relevant regions during visual path integration, which may represent the transformation accuracy of visual motion information into internal spatial representations. More broadly, these results illuminate underlying mechanisms that may explain some variability in spatial navigation ability.
Highlights
Spatial navigation is a complex cognitive skill that varies between indi‐ viduals, and the mechanisms underlying this variability are not clear
The second way we examined the relationship between self‐re‐ ported spatial navigation ability and OF‐sensitive region functional connectivity strength was through exploratory whole‐brain anal‐ yses
In addition to our hypothesis‐driven regions of interest (ROIs)‐based analyses, we explored whether self‐reported spatial navigation ability was as‐ sociated with functional connectivity strength between any OF‐ sensitive regions and brain regions beyond our target ROIs
Summary
Spatial navigation is a complex cognitive skill that varies between indi‐ viduals, and the mechanisms underlying this variability are not clear. Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to define OF‐sensitive regions and map their functional connectivity (FC) with the retrosplenial cortex and hippocampus during visual path integration (VPI) and turn counting (TC) tasks Both tasks presented visual self‐motion through a real‐world environment. Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis that perceived spatial navigation ability is associated with communication strength between OF‐sensitive and naviga‐ tionally relevant regions during visual path integration, which may represent the transformation accuracy of visual motion information into internal spatial represen‐ tations. These results illuminate underlying mechanisms that may ex‐ plain some variability in spatial navigation ability. Restricting sensory information to one modality has been a helpful way to simplify the study of path integration
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