The Neural Representation of Room Locations in A Virtual Building

Abstract

In order to navigate through a building, people need to keep track of their real-time location in the space. In this study, we aim to find the neural representation of room locations in the human brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA). Specifically, we asked participants to navigate through a learned virtual building. Their real-time brain activity in each room was recorded. It was found that the location of the current room could be decoded from the hippocampus. Consistent with previous studies in outdoor spaces, the hippocampus also tracks one’s real-time location in an indoor space during navigation.