Spatial Navigation & Cognitive Maps

1. Spatial Navigation & Cognitive Maps February 2nd, 2010 Psychology 485

2. Outline • Introduction & Comparative Approach • Determining Direction • What is learned? • How is direction represented? • Determining Location • What is learned? • How is space represented? • Algorithmic – Cognitive Maps • Implementational – Hippocampus

3. Shettleworth’s areas of study • 3 main areas: • Basic processes • Associative learning • Physical cognition • Social cognition

4. Human navigation

5. Animals, too… (and more!)

6. Comparative Approach

7. Spatial Navigation in the Lab • Mazes • Complex vs Simple • Morris Water Maze • Reference or Working memory • Radial Arm Maze • Study of errors • Open field • Limited or open space

8. Determining Direction

9. Getting Oriented • Directional frame of reference can be based on: • celestial cues (sun, stars) • landmarks • geometry (rivers, mountains, walls) • Cheng (1986)

10. A Geometric Module • Cheng (1986) studied rats in a rectangular enclosure • Geometry alone leads to an ambiguous situation • Featural information is needed to disambiguate • Rats relied almost exclusively on geometry to solve the task • Cheng (1986) proposed that rats have a “geometric module” • featural information gets “pasted on” to the geometric frame

11. How is geometry learned? • Primary Axes? • Symmetry axes or medial axes?

12. What does it mean to be modular?

13. Determining Location

14. Now where? • Path integration • Beaconing • Piloting • landmarks • surfaces G

15. Distance and direction information Non-metric navigation Beacons Trails “List” routes Metric information Use of Metrics G

16. What is learned? • Transformational approach • What features of the landmarks are learned? • How are distance and direction learned? • Distance and direction used separately G

17. What is learned? • Absolute vs Relational Train Test pigeons G gerbils humans

18. Use of geometry to navigate • Lourenco & Huttenlocher, 2006, 2007 • Viewer vs Space disorientation procedures • Pre-existing orientation cues may interfere with geometry • Margules & Gallistel, 1988 • Oriented rats do not make rotational errors • Performance decreases when apparatus is rotated

19. Batty, Hoban, Spetch & Dickson (2009) • Do oriented and disoriented rats learn about features and geometry differently? • Use of feature? • Will oriented rats still learn geometry? • Preference for orientation or geometric cues?

20. Methods OC GC GC • Testing: • cues systematically placed in conflict or removed

21. Results • Feature: • Neither oriented or disoriented rats showed control by feature • Orientation vs Geometry: • Oriented-trained rats split choices • Disoriented-trained preferred geometry

22. Main Findings • Oriented-trained group used both geometric and orientation cues to guide search • Slight preference for orientation cues when chance is accounted for • Disoriented-trained group preferred geometry • Mere presence of orientation cues doesn’t affect search

23. Associative Learning & Spatial Cogntiion • How does spatial learning compare to other forms of learning? • Classical Conditioning • Operant Conditioning • Do associative learning mechanisms alone allow for what animals can learn spatially?

24. Blocking – Roberts & Pearce • Water maze • Training with both landmarks and distal cues • Little help from distal cues if landmarks learned first

25. Overshadowing Goodyear & Kamil (2004) Trained with 4 landmarks at different distances Most overshadowing with closest LMs

26. Associative Learning & Spatial Cogntiion • But... Lack of competition between geometry and landmarks (usually) • e.g. Beacons do not block learning of shape • Featural information doesn’t overshadow geometry

27. Cognitive Maps • Term coined by Tolman (1948) • Used to explain: • Latent learning • Novel detours

28. Average Errors No food day 11 Food reward Days No food reward until day 11 Tolman & Honzig (1930)

29. Maze blockages Goal Start Box

30. Modern Theory – Jacobs & Schenk

31. Implementation • What part of the brain “implements” spatial cognition? • Cognitive maps? • Avian Hippocampal formation • Full lesion to HF results in deficits learning geometry, but not featural information • Highly lateralized • Left = Local • Right = Global

32. Place Cells • Hippocampal ‘place cells’ map out the environment • Cell fires when rat is in specific location • Not related to viewpoint • Cells “remap” when environment changes • directional • geometric • complex/contextual

33. Role of Context • Place cell firing seem to be highly affected by contextual/featural information • How does this compare with behavioural data? • e.g. Geometric Module?

34. Does the “map” rule behaviour? • Jeffrey, Gilbert, Burton & Strudwick (2003) • Rats forage in black box • Establish place cell map • Train tone  food available in one corner • Test in white box • Context change, place cells remap • Will rats still know the correct corner?

35. Discussion

36. Cognitive Maps • Tolman suggests cognitive maps as way of thinking about learning in general? • Is the map a good analogy for the brain and cognitive functioning? Are other analogies better (like the computer, information processing views)? • Are place cells a good model for understanding cognitive maps? • Do they “prove” or “disprove” the existence of cognitive maps? • Is the concept of maps necessary (or useful) to the study of spatial cognition? • How do maps fit in with modern lines of research (such as in Spetch & Kelly)?