Successful navigation relies on the ability to process and encode detailed information about our dynamic environments. Beyond familiarity, emerging studies now highlight the crucial role of novelty detection in this process, the precise neural mechanism of which remains poorly understood. Using ultra-high field 7T fMRI, we investigated how the human brain encodes spatial novelty during virtual navigation, with a particular focus on graded representations that follow systematic transitions between novel and familiar spaces. Our results revealed novelty and familiarity specific neural responses within the posterior and anterior poles of the bilateral hippocampus, respectively. On the cortical surface, two separable streams of activity patterns were observed in which regions within the visual and frontoparietal networks showed novelty-specific activity, while somatomotor, ventral attention and default mode regions preferred spatial familiarity. Importantly, we identified a distinct gradient along the hippocampal long axis and demonstrated the extended contribution of the posterior medial cortex to the encoding of spatial novelty scales that were intrinsically coupled with the hippocampal gradient. These findings advance our understanding of how the human brain encodes and processes spatial information, suggesting that graded representations of spatial novelty may serve as a fundamental organizational principle for spatial cognition in the human brain.

Mother, Father, and Toddler Spatial Language in English and Spanish during Play: Associations with Toddlers’ Emerging Spatial Cognition

BackgroundThe vestibular system plays a crucial role in spatial orientation and hippocampal-dependent memory. While bilateral vestibular loss is known to impair spatial cognition, recent evidence highlights that even unilateral vestibular deficits—commonly seen in vestibular neuritis—can disrupt visuospatial memory. Galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), a non-invasive neuromodulatory technique, has shown promise in enhancing neural plasticity and spatial cognition in preclinical models.ObjectiveTo evaluate the therapeutic effects of near-threshold GVS on visuospatial cognition in patients with acute unilateral peripheral vestibulopathy (AUPV) and to investigate its neuromodulatory potential beyond natural recovery.MethodsIn a single-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial, 83 AUPV patients were assigned to receive either 10 daily sessions of GVS (cathode on lesion side) or sham stimulation in the acute phase. Cognitive assessments included the Visual Object and Space Perception (VOSP) battery, Corsi Block-Tapping Test (CBTT), Block Design Test (BDT), and a virtual Morris Water Maze (vMWM). Intervention and time-dependent effects were analyzed using generalized estimating equations.ResultsGVS significantly improved visuospatial memory performance, with enhanced CBTT block span and total scores and superior spatial retention in the vMWM trial. Significant interaction effects between intervention and time suggested that GVS accelerated cognitive recovery beyond spontaneous compensation. No adverse effects were reported.ConclusionThese findings support GVS as a neuromodulatory intervention to enhance spatial memory and facilitate cognitive recovery in AUPV. By modulating vestibulo-hippocampal circuits, GVS may offer a promising therapeutic avenue for cognitive rehabilitation in unilateral vestibular dysfunction.Trial registrationThis study was registered with the Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS), Republic of Korea, under the identifier KCT0007058, registered on May 25, 2022.

The entorhinal cortex (EC) is known to play important roles in spatial cognition of human behaviors. However, the functional contributions and the lateralization of EC are not well known. This paper proposed a new paradigm by employing non-invasive stimulation - Temporal interference (TI) - of human EC in left or right hemisphere under path integration (PI) tasks of sensory-driven and abstract processing. Five metrics were introduced to evaluate PI performance, with results revealing significant improvements after EC stimulation. Moreover, the left EC modulation achieved more enhanced performances of abstract processing, whereas the modulation of the right EC had better improvements in the sensory-driven condition. The results indicated that functional roles may differ in left and right EC under PI tasks. This study provided valuable insights into hemispheric specialization within EC and suggested potential pathways for developing early intervention strategies through the non-invasive modulation of EC.

This study systematically investigates settlement sites that record living patterns of ancient humans, aiming to reveal the interactive mechanisms of human–environment relationships. The core issues of landscape archeology research are the surface spatial structure, human spatial cognition, and social practice activities. This article takes the Han Dynasty settlement site in Sanyangzhuang, Neihuang County, Anyang City, Henan Province, as a typical case. It comprehensively uses ArcGIS 10.8 spatial analysis and remote sensing image interpretation techniques to construct spatial distribution models of elevation, slope, and aspect in the study area, and analyzes the process of the Yellow River’s ancient course changes. A regional historical geographic information system was constructed by integrating multiple data sources, including archeological excavation reports, excavated artifacts, and historical documents. At the same time, the sequences of temperature and dry–wet index changes in the study area during the Qin and Han dynasties were quantitatively reconstructed, and a climate evolution map for this period was created based on ancient climate proxy indicators. Drawing on three dimensions of settlement morphology, architectural spatial organization, and agricultural technology systems, this paper provides a deep analysis of the site’s spatial cognitive logic and the ecological wisdom it embodies. The results show the following: (1) The Sanyangzhuang Han Dynasty settlement site reflects the efficient utilization strategy and environmental adaptation mechanism of ancient settlements for land resources, presenting typical scattered characteristics. Its formation mechanism is closely related to the evolution of social systems in the Western Han Dynasty. (2) In terms of site selection, settlements consider practicality and ceremony, which can not only meet basic living needs, but also divide internal functional zones based on the meaning implied by the orientation of the constellations. (3) The widespread use of iron farming tools has promoted the innovation of cultivation techniques, and the implementation of the substitution method has formed an ecological regulation system to cope with seasonal climate change while ensuring agricultural yield. The above results comprehensively reflect three types of ecological wisdom: “ecological adaptation wisdom of integrating homestead and farmland”, “spatial cognitive wisdom of analogy, heaven, law, and earth”, and “agricultural technology wisdom adapted to the times”. This study not only deepens our understanding of the cultural value of the Han Dynasty settlement site in Sanyangzhuang, but also provides a new theoretical perspective, an important paradigm reference, and a methodological reference for the study of ancient settlement ecological wisdom.

The Climate Crisis is reshaping not only ecosystems but also human cognition. While its psychological impact is increasingly acknowledged, little is known about how environmental degradation influences basic cognitive functions. Since spatial and temporal cognition provide the perceptual scaffolding for orientation and various decision-making processes, distortions in these dimensions may hinder adaptive responses to ecological change. This study examined whether simulated climate-related degradation affects spatial-temporal cognition and whether interoceptive awareness predicts variability in these effects. Using immersive Virtual Reality combined with an omnidirectional treadmill, participants walked along paths in verdant and arid landscapes and then estimated the duration and distance travelled on each path. The results showed that arid environments led to longer time and distance estimates than verdant ones, although there were no objective differences in path length or actual walking time. Furthermore, temporal judgements, but not spatial ones, were predicted by interoceptive attention regulation: participants with a higher capacity to regulate attention towards bodily sensations consistently provided shorter temporal estimates across all contexts. These findings demonstrate that spatial-temporal representations are sensitive to ecological quality and that interoceptive processes contribute to individual differences in temporal perception. This highlights the value of integrating cognitive processes and interoception into sustainability science, suggesting that environmental preservation supports not only ecological well-being but also the cognitive foundations through which humans perceive and adapt to their surroundings.

Examples of convergent evolution, wherein distantly related organisms evolve similar traits, including behaviors, underscore the adaptive power of natural selection. In birds, obligate brood parasitism, and the associated loss of parental care behaviors, has evolved independently in seven different lineages, though little is known about the genetic basis of the complex suite of traits associated with this rare life history strategy. We generated genome assemblies for ten brood parasitic species plus eight species representatives of their parental/nesting outgroups. This includes nine long-read chromosome-level assemblies, with scaffold N50 sizes ranging from 38.1 to 72.6MB, and gene representation completeness measures > 97%. Leveraging this new catalog of avian genomes, we constructed clade-level alignments that reveal variation in chromosomal synteny, provide first-time or improved annotations of protein-coding and non-coding genes, and define cross-species ortholog reference sets. We also refine estimates for the timing of the seven independent origins of brood parasitism, ranging from recent events such as 1.6 to 4.5 million years ago in Molothrus cowbirds to much earlier origins over 30 million years ago in two of the three cuckoo lineages. These genomic resources lay the foundation for investigating the genetic and genomic underpinnings of brood parasitism, including the loss of parental care, shifts in mating systems, perhaps resulting in heightened sperm competition, elevated annual fecundity, improved spatial cognition related to nest-finding, and the diverse adaptations shaped by intense coevolution with host species.

Decoding the temporal dynamics of numerical semantics: Early cardinal activation and the critical role of ordinal processing in spatial-numerical associations.

This design study focuses on the redevelopment of the Kebayoran Lama traditional market using a behavioural approach. Traditional markets hold an important role in the social, economic, and cultural life of urban communities, functioning not only as centres of trade but also as spaces for interaction that shape the city's character. However, rapid urban development often creates challenges for traditional markets, reducing their competitiveness against modern shopping centres. The study began with direct observation and behavioural mapping activities at the Kebayoran Lama traditional market to understand how traders and visitors interact with the space. Findings show the current layout does not support user needs due to irregular commodity placement, limited circulation, inactive stalls, and trading activities spilling outside the building. This research proposes strategies to restructure the market into a more adaptive, inclusive, and sustainable space. The design sought to reprogram the spatial boundaries to identify a setting for particular behaviour, improve wayfinding to create clearer spatial cognition, and develop sensorial experience to enhance environmental perception. These redevelopment strategies demonstrate an integrated framework of behaviour approach to functionally efficient, cognitively legible, and socially engaging spaces, strengthening the market's role as a vital centre of economic and social activities for the community.

How are systems supporting high-level cognition organized in the human brain? We hypothesize that cognitive processes involved in understanding people and places are implemented by distinct neural systems with parallel anatomical organization. We test this hypothesis using precision neuroimaging of individual human brains on diverse tasks involving perception and cognition in the domains of familiar people, places, and objects. We find that thinking about people and places elicits responses in distinct areas of high-level association cortex within the default mode network, spanning the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes. Person- and place-preferring brain regions are systematically spatially adjacent across cortical zones. These areas have strongly domain-specific response profiles across visual, semantic, and episodic tasks and are specifically functionally connected to other parts of association cortex with like domain preference. Social and spatial networks remain anatomically separated at the apex of a unimodal-to-transmodal gradient across cortex and include regions with anatomical connections to the hippocampal formation. These results demonstrate the existence of parallel, domain-specific networks reaching the cortical apex.

Place recognition—the ability to identify previously visited locations—is critical for both biological navigation and autonomous systems. This review synthesizes findings from robotic systems, animal studies, and human research to explore how different systems encode and recall place. We examine the computational and representational strategies employed across artificial systems, animals, and humans, highlighting convergent solutions such as topological mapping, cue integration, and memory management. Animal systems reveal evolved mechanisms for multimodal navigation and environmental adaptation, while human studies provide unique insights into semantic place concepts, cultural influences, and introspective capabilities. Artificial systems showcase scalable architectures and data-driven models. We propose a unifying set of concepts by which to consider and develop place recognition mechanisms and identify key challenges such as generalization, robustness, and environmental variability. This review aims to foster innovations in artificial localization by connecting future developments in artificial place recognition systems to insights from both animal navigation research and human spatial cognition studies.

Objective assessment of spatial cognitive ability is crucial for screening cognitive impairment and in neurorehabilitation. While deep learning methods for electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis show great promise, they increasingly rely on complex, parameter-heavy architectures. This complexity often leads to poor generalization due to overfitting on small datasets and hinders deployment on mobile healthcare devices. To overcome these limitations, we propose a novel lightweight multi-scale channel attention network with depthwise residual blocks. The model incorporates multi-scale convolutional layers to capture diverse temporal and spatial patterns in EEG signals. It then leverages channel attention mechanisms to dynamically prioritize informative channels, focusing on task-critical features. Furthermore, a novel depthwise separable residual block is introduced to significantly reduce computational complexity and maintain stable model performance. Evaluations on a spatial cognition EEG dataset demonstrate that our network achieves higher accuracy than baselines with only 8.453M parameters, making it an efficient and practical solution for mobile deployment. It also holds strong potential for extension to early screening and intervention in a wider range of cognitive disorders.

Preliminary epidemiological studies have revealed a relationship between exposure to environment-related ultrafine particles and the escalation of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Oral exposure through food is a significant route of human contact with nanoparticles; however, the potential risk of AD induced by food-grade nanoparticles and the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. Here, this study reveals a common mechanism by which food-grade nanoparticles, including titanium dioxide, nanosilica, and nanosilver, trigger AD-like pathological changes through epigenetic alterations. Exposure to food-grade nanoparticles triggers changes in DNA methylation and aberrant ryanodine receptor-Ca2+ signaling in the mouse brain, contributing to lysosomal impairment and disrupted autophagic flux in neurons. Crucially, these autophagy defects reduced the ability to clear β-amyloid and pTau proteins, which ultimately accumulated and triggered spatial cognition and memory deficits in mice. In conclusion, this study elucidates the shared toxicological mechanisms induced by different food-grade nanoparticles, thereby offering valuable insights into ingested nanoparticle exposure and its potential association with neurodegenerative diseases.

Musical training shapes spatial cognition.

Artificial selection for behavioural traits can significantly affect the anatomy of brain regions related to the behaviour under selection. The homing pigeon (Columba livia) is a prime example of how anatomical changes can arise from artificial selection. Compared with feral and other pigeon breeds, homing pigeons have a much higher density and number neurons in the hippocampal formation, a region important for spatial memory and homing. Neuron numbers and density are, however, only one component of a brain region's processing capacity and whether hippocampal formation neuron size and morphology also differ remains unknown. Using Golgi staining and virtual microscopy, we reconstructed and quantified the size and morphology of neurons within the dorsomedial and dorsolateral regions of the hippocampal formation in homing and feral pigeons. While no significant differences were found in the size or morphology of dorsolateral neurons between the two breeds, homing pigeons had significantly smaller neurons (approximately 30% reduction in total volume and soma volume) in the dorsomedial region compared to feral pigeons. These findings suggest that smaller dorsomedial neurons in homing pigeons may facilitate increased neuronal packing density. How these differences in neuron size reflect behaviour in homing and feral pigeons has yet to be determined, but our results suggest that there may be behavioural and physiological differences in spatial cognition between the two breeds.

BackgroundTemporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is frequently associated with cognitive impairments, such as memory deficits, attention disorders, and executive dysfunction. Given that these cognitive deficits are closely linked to neuronal loss in TLE, fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10), a molecule recognized for its neuroprotective properties, has emerged as a promising therapeutic candidate. The kainic acid (KA)-induced epilepsy model can replicate key pathological features of TLE. The study aims to investigate the potential role of FGF10 in TLE, using the KA-induced model as an experimental framework.MethodsWe induced epilepsy in mice using KA and administered intranasal FGF10 over 14 days or delivered an AAV virus to overexpress FGF10. Seizure activity was monitored via video-electroencephalography (EEG), and behavioral tests were conducted to assess spatial cognition, anxiety-related behaviors, and depressive-like behaviors. Neuronal damage was evaluated using Nissl staining and TUNEL staining. To explore the molecular mechanisms underlying FGF10’s effects, we performed RNA sequencing, followed by validation with Western blotting and qRT-PCR. Additionally, we generated FGFR2 conditional knockout (cKO) mice to investigate the role of FGF10-FGFR2 signaling.ResultsFGF10 treatment significantly reduced seizure frequency and improved epilepsy-related cognitive deficits. It also exerted neuroprotective effects, as evidenced by reduced neuronal death in KA-induced epileptic mice. RNA sequencing revealed decreased CALB1 levels in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of epileptic mice, which were restored following FGF10 administration. Crucially, the therapeutic benefits of FGF10 were abolished in FGFR2-cKO mice, indicating that FGFR2 is essential for FGF10’s effects.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate that FGF10 alleviates seizures and cognitive dysfunction in epilepsy, likely through FGFR2-dependent mechanisms involving CALB1 modulation. These results highlight FGF10 as a potential therapeutic target for epilepsy, offering a novel strategy for improving treatment outcomes in patients with TLE.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-025-07185-9.

This study applies the Decoding the Disciplines framework to address a persistent bottleneck in geographic education: students' difficulty developing spatial empathy in increasingly hybridized learning environments. Spatial empathy—the ability to deeply connect with and understand places and their inhabitants beyond cognitive recognition—requires students to overcome ontological and epistemological barriers rooted in colonial perspectives of space. Through careful analysis, we identify expert mental moves that geographers employ, including multi-sensory engagement with place, recognition of temporal layers and multiple narratives, embodied spatial cognition, connecting personal experience to broader contexts, and transferring spatial understanding across physical and digital realms. We created immersive 3D audio experiences featuring pandemic-related campus narratives and measured their impact on 47 university students. Results demonstrate significant differences in emotional responses between students who experienced campus closure (more negative emotional tone, higher intensity) versus those who didn't, though both groups reported high empathy levels. Qualitative data revealed three key themes: perspective-taking, accessibility awareness, and sensory connection to place. Digital storytelling effectively modeled expert mental moves by making tacit knowledge visible and fostering embodied engagement through sonic pedagogies. This approach offers geography educators a framework for teaching place-based concepts in hybrid contexts while challenging visual dominance in spatial representation. Our findings extend the Decoding paradigm to encompass multi-sensory dimensions of spatial understanding, demonstrating how immersive soundscapes can bridge disconnections from place while fostering mutual understanding across diverse experiences.

ABSTRACTAging is associated with changes in spatial memory and navigation, yet the mechanisms underlying these changes are not yet fully understood. Environmental boundaries are among the most salient and reliable spatial cues, supporting both spatial memory and orientation. Here, we investigated how aging affects the use and the neural representation of boundary information during a virtual object location memory task. Healthy young and older adults navigated a square virtual environment while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging, allowing us to assess moment‐to‐moment encoding of distance to environmental boundaries in the entorhinal cortex and subiculum. Behaviorally, both age groups showed more accurate memory for objects located near boundaries, but this effect was amplified in older adults, whose spatial precision declined more steeply with increasing distance from boundaries. Older adults also exhibited a stronger bias to recall objects closer to boundaries. Analysis of navigation behavior revealed that older adults followed boundary‐oriented paths regardless of target location, whereas young adults flexibly adapted their navigation based on spatial context. Neurally, older adults—but not young adults—showed significant blood‐oxygen‐level‐dependent modulation by boundary distance in the entorhinal cortex and subiculum, with activity decreasing as participants moved farther from boundaries. This effect was most pronounced in low‐performing older adults and was associated with stronger behavioral boundary bias, suggesting a maladaptive reliance on proximity‐based cues. Together, our results provide converging behavioral and neural evidence that aging alters the use and representation of boundary information, with downstream effects on spatial memory. Altered boundary processing may represent a key mechanism contributing to age‐related declines in spatial cognition.

My career began with the exciting beginnings of cognitive psychology. It took me to memory, mental representations, categorization, spatial cognition, language, event cognition, stories, discourse, visualizations, comics, gesture, joint action, creativity, design, and more. On the way I enjoyed collaborations with friends and students in many areas and many countries. I am slowing down just as brain, AI, computational models, and big data are taking over the field, bringing new methods and new ways of thinking and, with that, new talent and inspired minds.

ABSTRACT Etymology of the word ‘engineer’ is traced to the Latin ‘ingeniare’ which translates as inventor or designer. To prepare students for professional success, they must think creatively and flexibly about optimal solutions, underpinned by spatial visualisation–a core cognitive ability in engineering design. In a sequential mixed-methods study at a Midwestern R1 University, 325 undergraduates completed four validated spatial tests and a ping-pong launcher design task. Quantitative analyses showed final-year students outperformed first-year on all tests of spatial cognition (p < 0.05, d=0.26-0.51) and completed the design task faster. A subsample (n = 24) solved the design task via think-aloud protocol, revealing high spatial visualisers, regardless of year, used more iterative design steps and produced higher-quality solutions, while final-year low visualisers did not surpass first-year low visualizers. These findings underscore spatial visualisation’s role in the engineering design process sophistication and solution quality, supporting integration of targeted spatial skills training.