Categorical Spatial Relations Research Articles

Where Are Landscape Designers' Spatial Abilities in the Brain? An fMRI Study

Background and objective: To effectively understand and communicate their work, landscape designers should possess excellent spatial abilities. Neurological methods have confirmed that activation of the occipital lobe, parietal cortex, and prefrontal cortex affect the judgment of space; however, few studies have measured spatial abilities in landscape design. This study aimed to identify the potential role of various brain regions during spatial interpretation processes by landscape designers, particularly the effect of stimulating the frontal lobe on enhancing design capabilities.Methods: This study tested the spatial abilities of landscape designers when transforming a planar drawing into a sectional drawing and the brain regions activated in this process. The subjects were asked to identify the correct option when matching given section lines in a planar drawing. The correct answer rate and response time were used to score brain activation during spatial task processes. A total of 16 valid subjects were divided into high- and low-accuracy groups according to the correct answer rate.Results: The results for the high-accuracy group showed that the left inferior frontal gyrus was activated during spatial design tasks. In contrast, the findings for the low-accuracy group revealed that the left middle occipital gyrus was activated for processing visual information.Conclusion: The findings suggest that the frontal lobe plays a role in allowing landscape designers to make planar to cross-sectional inferences via mental rotations and categorical spatial relations. The findings offer implications for landscape designers in stimulating the frontal lobe and enhancing their design capabilities.

Dissociation of categorical and coordinate spatial relations on dynamic network organization states.

Humans can flexibly represent both categorical and coordinate spatial relations. Previous research has mainly focused on hemisphere lateralization in representing these two types of spatial relations, but little is known about how distinct network organization states support representations of the two. Here we used dynamic resting-state functional connectivity (FC) to explore this question. To do this, we separated a meta-identified navigation network into a ventral and two other subnetworks. We revealed a Weak State and a Strong State within the ventral subnetwork and a Negative State and a Positive State between the ventral and other subnetworks. Further, we found the Weak State (i.e., weak but positive FC) within the ventral subnetwork was related to the ability of categorical relation recognition, suggesting that the representation of categorical spatial relations was related to weak integration among focal regions in the navigation network. In contrast, the Negative State (i.e., negative FC) between the ventral and other subnetworks was associated with the ability of coordinate relation processing, suggesting that the representation of coordinate spatial relations may require competitive interactions among widely distributed regions. In sum, our study provides the first empirical evidence revealing different focal and distributed organizations of the navigation network in representing different types of spatial information.

The impact of age and familiarity with the environment on categorical and coordinate spatial relation representations.

Retrieving spatial information is a crucial everyday ability that is affected by age-related changes. Previous research has shown that this change is mediated by familiarity with an environment. The present research uses a series of landmark location tasks to extend and deepen our understanding of the role of aging in spatial mental representations of more or less familiar environments, also disentangling the contribution of coordinate and categorical spatial relations. The study tested the following hypotheses: (1) younger adults only have an advantage over the elderly in less familiar environments; (2) the advantage for categorical over coordinate spatial relations is mainly found for less familiar environments; and finally; (3) interactions between age, familiarity, and spatial relations might reveal that the effects of age and familiarity take different trajectories for coordinate and categorical spatial relations. Results confirmed that: (1) young people outperform the elderly only in less familiar environments; (2) there is a reduction in the difference between coordinate and categorical accuracy with increasing familiarity with the environment; while (3) the interaction between age and level of familiarity did not significantly differentiate coordinate from categorical spatial relations. In conclusion, the present study provides new evidence for the role of familiarity with geographical areas and its impact on the representation of categorical and coordinate relations, with practical implications for the assessment of topographical disorientation in aging.

The Road More Travelled: The Differential Effects of Spatial Experience in Young and Elderly Participants.

Our spatial mental representations allow us to give refined descriptions of the environment in terms of the relative locations and distances between objects and landmarks. In this study, we investigated the effects of familiarity with the everyday environment, in terms of frequency of exploration and mode of transportation, on categorical and coordinate spatial relations, on young and elderly participants, controlling for socio-demographic factors. Participants were tested with a general anamnesis, a neuropsychological assessment, measures of explorations and the Landmark Positioning on a Map task. The results showed: (a) a modest difference in performance with categorical spatial relations; (b) a larger difference in coordinate spatial relations; (c) a significant moderating effect of age on the relationship between familiarity and spatial relations, with a stronger relation among the elderly than the young. Ceteris paribus, the role of direct experience with exploring their hometown on spatial mental representations appeared to be more important in the elderly than in the young. This advantage appears to make the elderly wiser and likely protects them from the detrimental effects of aging on spatial mental representations.

Restoration of categorical spatial relations explains the facilitated recognition of inverted objects

Restoration of categorical spatial relations explains the facilitated recognition of inverted objects

Allocentric coordinate spatial representations are impaired in aMCI and Alzheimer’s disease patients

Research has reported deficits in egocentric (subject-to-object) and mainly allocentric (object-to-object) spatial representations in the early stages of the Alzheimer’s disease (eAD). To identify early cognitive signs of neurodegenerative conversion, several studies have shown alterations in both reference frames, especially the allocentric ones in amnestic-Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) and eAD patients. However, egocentric and allocentric spatial frames of reference are intrinsically connected with coordinate (metric/variant) and categorical (non-metric/invariant) spatial relations. This raises the question of whether allocentric deficit found to detect the conversion from aMCI to dementia is differently affected when combined with categorical or coordinate spatial relations. Here, we compared eAD and aMCI patients to Normal Controls (NC) on the Ego-Allo/Cat-Coor spatial memory task. Participants memorized triads of objects and then were asked to provide right/left (i.e. categorical) and distance based (i.e. coordinate) judgments according to an egocentric or allocentric reference frame. Results showed a selective deficit of coordinate, but not categorical, allocentric judgments in both aMCI and eAD patients as compared to NC group. These results suggest that a sign of the departure from normal/healthy aging towards the AD may be traced in elderly people’s inability to represent metric distances among elements in the space.

Brief, prior, exposure to red decreases categorical and coordinate spatial task performance

Location information is processed through two types of spatial processing; categorical and coordinate processing. Categorical spatial relations indicate where an object is relative to another object, without regard to the metric distance between the two objects. Coordinate spatial relations indicate metric distance without regard to relative location. In human behavioral studies, the magnocellular pathway of the lateral geniculate nucleus has been implicated in coordinate spatial processing abilities. Magnocellular pathway cells (type IV) have a center surround organization, such that red light inhibits neuronal firing. In these behavioral studies, red stimuli decreases coordinate spatial processing accuracy. Prior studies also show that there is a lag between the time of visual stimulus presentation and the time of observing a neural response in the magnocellular pathway. We sought to understand whether prior presentation of red stimuli decreases coordinate spatial performance, and also examined its effects on categorical spatial performance. The results indicate that prior presentation of red stimuli decreases accuracy and perceived confidence on both the categorical and coordinate tasks. These results confirm prior findings of the association between magnocellular pathway function and coordinate spatial processing. Implications for categorical task results and associated neural pathways are discussed.

How to separate coordinate and categorical spatial relation components in integrated spatial representations: A new methodology for analysing sketch maps.

Spatial relations between landmarks can be represented by means of categories and coordinates. In the present research, this paradigm was applied to sketch maps based on information acquired in goal-directed behaviour of exploration of a university campus area. The first aim was to investigate whether categorical and coordinate information can be considered conceptually independent in sketch maps. The second aim was to assess which kind of distance measure served better to represent coordinate information in the present case study, and finally to assess the factorial structure of coordinate and categorical data. Analytic methodology as well as statistical analysis were found to confirm that separating coordinate and categorical components was formally as well as empirically appropriate. A series of confirmatory factor analyses showed the best fit for the model with two correlated components, as well as an acceptable reliability of measures emerged. The two components were moderately correlated. Moreover, the adoption of Manhattan distance seemed to be the most effective method to represent coordinate spatial relations in spatial sketch maps of areas acquired through navigation.

Lateralized pointing does not cause a cognitive bias.

Lateralized pointing has been shown to cause not only a shift in visuo-motor midline, but also a shift in non-lateralized spatial attention. Non-lateralized cognitive consequences of lateralized pointing have been reported for local and global visuospatial processing. Here, we evaluate these findings and examine this effect for categorical and coordinate spatial relation processing, for which the attentional processes are thought to be highly similar to local and global visuospatial processing, respectively. Participants performed a commonly used working memory task to assess categorical and coordinate spatial relation processing. Lateralized pointing with either the left or the right hand, to either the left or the right side was introduced as a manipulation, as well as a new control condition without any pointing. Performance on the spatial relation task was measured before and after pointing. The results suggest that non-lateralized consequences of lateralized pointing cannot be generalized to other cognitive tasks relying on attentional processing. Further examination of lateralized pointing is recommended before drawing further conclusions concerning its impact on non-lateralized cognition.

Time takes space: selective effects of multitasking on concurrent spatial processing

Many everyday activities require coordination and monitoring of complex relations of future goals and deadlines. Cognitive offloading may provide an efficient strategy for reducing control demands by representing future goals and deadlines as a pattern of spatial relations. We tested the hypothesis that multiple-task monitoring involves time-to-space transformational processes, and that these spatial effects are selective with greater demands on coordinate (metric) than categorical (nonmetric) spatial relation processing. Participants completed a multitasking session in which they monitored four series of deadlines, running on different time scales, while making concurrent coordinate or categorical spatial judgments. We expected and found that multitasking taxes concurrent coordinate, but not categorical, spatial processing. Furthermore, males showed a better multitasking performance than females. These findings provide novel experimental evidence for the hypothesis that efficient multitasking involves metric relational processing.

Are Categorical Spatial Relations Encoded by Shifting Visual Attention between Objects?

Perceiving not just values, but relations between values, is critical to human cognition. We tested the predictions of a proposed mechanism for processing categorical spatial relations between two objects—the shift account of relation processing—which states that relations such as ‘above’ or ‘below’ are extracted by shifting visual attention upward or downward in space. If so, then shifts of attention should improve the representation of spatial relations, compared to a control condition of identity memory. Participants viewed a pair of briefly flashed objects and were then tested on either the relative spatial relation or identity of one of those objects. Using eye tracking to reveal participants’ voluntary shifts of attention over time, we found that when initial fixation was on neither object, relational memory showed an absolute advantage for the object following an attention shift, while identity memory showed no advantage for either object. This result is consistent with the shift account of relation processing. When initial fixation began on one of the objects, identity memory strongly benefited this fixated object, while relational memory only showed a relative benefit for objects following an attention shift. This result is also consistent, although not as uniquely, with the shift account of relation processing. Taken together, we suggest that the attention shift account provides a mechanistic explanation for the overall results. This account can potentially serve as the common mechanism underlying both linguistic and perceptual representations of spatial relations.

Electroencephalographic Correlates of Sensorimotor Integration and Embodiment during the Appreciation of Virtual Architectural Environments.

Nowadays there is the hope that neuroscientific findings will contribute to the improvement of building design in order to create environments which satisfy man's demands. This can be achieved through the understanding of neurophysiological correlates of architectural perception. To this aim, the electroencephalographic (EEG) signals of 12 healthy subjects were recorded during the perception of three immersive virtual reality environments (VEs). Afterwards, participants were asked to describe their experience in terms of Familiarity, Novelty, Comfort, Pleasantness, Arousal, and Presence using a rating scale from 1 to 9. These perceptual dimensions are hypothesized to influence the pattern of cerebral spectral activity, while Presence is used to assess the realism of the virtual stimulation. Hence, the collected scores were used to analyze the Power Spectral Density (PSD) of the EEG for each behavioral dimension in the theta, alpha and mu bands by means of time-frequency analysis and topographic statistical maps. Analysis of Presence resulted in the activation of the frontal-midline theta, indicating the involvement of sensorimotor integration mechanisms when subjects expressed to feel more present in the VEs. Similar patterns also characterized the experience of familiar and comfortable VEs. In addition, pleasant VEs increased the theta power across visuomotor circuits and activated the alpha band in areas devoted to visuospatial exploration and processing of categorical spatial relations. Finally, the de-synchronization of the mu rhythm described the perception of pleasant and comfortable VEs, showing the involvement of left motor areas and embodied mechanisms for environment appreciation. Overall, these results show the possibility to measure EEG correlates of architectural perception involving the cerebral circuits of sensorimotor integration, spatial navigation, and embodiment. These observations can help testing architectural hypotheses in order to design environments matching the changing needs of humans.

How coordinate and categorical spatial relations combine with egocentric and allocentric reference frames in a motor task: Effects of delay and stimuli characteristics

This study explores how people represent spatial information in order to accomplish a visuo-motor task. To this aim we combined two fundamental components of the human visuo-spatial system: egocentric and allocentric frames of reference and coordinate and categorical spatial relations. Specifically, participants learned the position of three objects and then had to judge the distance (coordinate information) and the relation (categorical information) of a target object with respect to themselves (egocentric frame) or with respect to another object (allocentric frame). They gave spatial judgments by reaching and touching the exact position or the side previously occupied by the target object. The possible influence of stimuli characteristics (3D objects vs. 2D images) and delay between learning phase and testing phase (1.5 vs. 5s) was also assessed. Results showed an advantage of egocentric coordinate judgments over the allocentric coordinate ones independently from the kind of stimuli used and the temporal parameters of the response, whereas egocentric categorical judgments were more accurate than allocentric categorical ones only with 3D stimuli and when an immediate response was requested. This pattern of data is discussed in the light of the “perception-action” model by Milner and Goodale [13] and of neuroimaging evidence about frames of reference and spatial relations.

Categorical and coordinate processing in object recognition depends on different spatial frequencies

Previous studies have suggested that processing categorical spatial relations requires high spatial frequency (HSF) information, while coordinate spatial relations require low spatial frequency (LSF) information. The aim of the present study was to determine whether spatial frequency influences categorical and coordinate processing in object recognition. Participants performed two object-matching tasks for novel, non-nameable objects consisting of “geons” (c.f. Brain Cogn 71:181–186, 2009). For each original stimulus, categorical and coordinate transformations were applied to create comparison stimuli. These stimuli were high-pass/low-cut-filtered or low-pass/high-cut-filtered by a filter with a 2D Gaussian envelope. The categorical task consisted of the original and categorical-transformed objects. The coordinate task consisted of the original and coordinate-transformed objects. The non-filtered object image was presented on a CRT monitor, followed by a comparison object (non-filtered, high-pass-filtered, and low-pass-filtered stimuli). The results showed that the removal of HSF information from the object image produced longer reaction times (RTs) in the categorical task, while removal of LSF information produced longer RTs in the coordinate task. These results support spatial frequency processing theory, specifically Kosslyn’s hypothesis and the double filtering frequency model.

Categorical biases in perceiving spatial relations.

We investigate the effect of spatial categories on visual perception. In three experiments, participants made same/different judgments on pairs of simultaneously presented dot-cross configurations. For different trials, the position of the dot within each cross could differ with respect to either categorical spatial relations (the dots occupied different quadrants) or coordinate spatial relations (the dots occupied different positions within the same quadrant). The dot-cross configurations also varied in how readily the dot position could be lexicalized. In harder-to-name trials, crosses formed a “+” shape such that each quadrant was associated with two discrete lexicalized spatial categories (e.g., “above” and “left”). In easier-to-name trials, both crosses were rotated 45° to form an “×” shape such that quadrants were unambiguously associated with a single lexicalized spatial category (e.g., “above” or “left”). In Experiment 1, participants were more accurate when discriminating categorical information between easier-to-name categories and more accurate at discriminating coordinate spatial information within harder-to-name categories. Subsequent experiments attempted to down-regulate or up-regulate the involvement of language in task performance. Results from Experiment 2 (verbal interference) and Experiment 3 (verbal training) suggest that the observed spatial relation type-by-nameability interaction is resistant to online language manipulations previously shown to affect color and object-based perceptual processing. The results across all three experiments suggest that robust biases in the visual perception of spatial relations correlate with patterns of lexicalization, but do not appear to be modulated by language online.

Exploring the relationship between response time, sensitivity and bias in categorical and coordinate visuospatial processes: Evidence for hemispheric specialisation

Right visual field-left hemisphere (RVF-LH) and left visual field-right hemisphere (LVF-RH) specialisations found for categorical and coordinate visuospatial judgements, respectively, are thought to demonstrate two different perceptual processes. In the current experiment, we used signal detection theory to investigate categorical and coordinate processes, and to explore the relationship between response time (RT), sensitivity and bias measures. We found a LVF-RH advantage for the processing of categorical spatial relations when this effect was indexed by sensitivity. We also found that task influenced response bias in RVF-LH trials, but not in LVF-RH trials. Increased sensitivity was correlated with faster responses in the coordinate task but slower responses in the categorical task, and faster RTs when responding liberally in RVF-LH but not LVF-RH categorical trials. By analysing signal detection measures alongside RT, the findings suggest that differences in sensitivity and response bias may contribute to typical task by hemisphere effects in RT.

Focusing Narrowly or Broadly Attention When Judging Categorical and Coordinate Spatial Relations: A MEG Study

We measured activity in the dorsal system of the human cortex with magnetoencephalography (MEG) during a matching-to-sample plus cueing paradigm, where participants judged the occurrence of changes in either categorical or coordinate spatial relations (e.g., exchanges of left versus right positions or changes in the relative distances) between images of pairs of animals. The attention window was primed in each trial to be either small or large by using cues that immediately preceded the matching image. In this manner, we could assess the modulatory effects of the scope of attention on the activity of the dorsal system of the human cortex during spatial relations processing. The MEG measurements revealed that large spatial cues yielded greater activations and longer peak latencies in the right inferior parietal lobe for coordinate trials, whereas small cues yielded greater activations and longer peak latencies in the left inferior parietal lobe for categorical trials. The activity in the superior parietal lobe, middle frontal gyrus, and visual cortex, was also modulated by the size of the spatial cues and by the type of spatial relation change. The present results support the theory that the lateralization of each kind of spatial processing hinges on differences in the sizes of regions of space attended to by the two hemispheres. In addition, the present findings are inconsistent with the idea of a right-hemispheric dominance for all kinds of challenging spatial tasks, since response times and accuracy rates showed that the categorical spatial relation task was more difficult than the coordinate task and the cortical activations were overall greater in the left hemisphere than in the right hemisphere.

The effect of attentional scope on spatial relation processing: A case study

Patient NC showed impairment on several tasks making use of coordinate spatial information, while categorical processing was at control level. Her assessment of local and global features of visual stimuli indicated that she had a local bias of attention, whereas controls showed a global bias. Her problems with coordinate tasks can be explained by this reduced global attentional focus. These findings confirm previous reports suggesting that the processing of categorical spatial relations benefits from a small scope of attention, whereas a relatively large scope of attention enhances coordinate spatial relation processing.

Retinotopic mapping of categorical and coordinate spatial relation processing in early visual cortex.

Spatial relations are commonly divided in two global classes. Categorical relations concern abstract relations which define areas of spatial equivalence, whereas coordinate relations are metric and concern exact distances. Categorical and coordinate relation processing are thought to rely on at least partially separate neurocognitive mechanisms, as reflected by differential lateralization patterns, in particular in the parietal cortex. In this study we address this textbook principle from a new angle. We studied retinotopic activation in early visual cortex, as a reflection of attentional distribution, in a spatial working memory task with either a categorical or a coordinate instruction. Participants were asked to memorize a dot position, with regard to a central cross, and to indicate whether a subsequent dot position matched the first dot position, either categorically (opposite quadrant of the cross) or coordinately (same distance to the centre of the cross). BOLD responses across the retinotopic maps of V1, V2, and V3 indicate that the spatial distribution of cortical activity was different for categorical and coordinate instructions throughout the retention interval; a more local focus was found during categorical processing, whereas focus was more global for coordinate processing. This effect was strongest for V3, approached significance in V2 and was absent in V1. Furthermore, during stimulus presentation the two instructions led to different levels of activation in V3 during stimulus encoding; a stronger increase in activity was found for categorical processing. Together this is the first demonstration that instructions for specific types of spatial relations may yield distinct attentional patterns which are already reflected in activity early in the visual cortex.

Distinct neural networks underlie encoding of categorical versus coordinate spatial relations during active navigation

It has been proposed that spatial relations are encoded either categorically, such that the relative positions of objects are defined in prepositional terms; or in terms of visual coordinates, such that the precise distances between objects are represented. In humans, it has been assumed that a left hemisphere neural network subserves categorical representations, and that coordinate representations are right lateralised. However, evidence in support of this distinction has been garnered exclusively from tasks that involved static, two-dimensional (2D) arrays. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify neural circuits underlying categorical and coordinate representations during active spatial navigation. Activity in the categorical condition was significantly greater in the parietal cortex, whereas the coordinate condition revealed greater activity in medial temporal cortex and dorsal striatum. In addition, activity in the categorical condition was greater in parietal cortex within the left hemisphere than within the right. Our findings are consistent with analogous studies in rodents, and support the suggestion of distinct neural circuits underlying categorical and coordinate representations during active spatial navigation. The findings also support the claim of a left hemispheric preponderance for the processing of categorical spatial relations.