Back to Search Start Over

Not seeing the forest for the trees: combination of path integration and landmark cues in human virtual navigation

Authors :
Jonas Scherer
Martin M. Müller
Patrick Unterbrink
Sina Meier
Martin Egelhaaf
Olivier J. N. Bertrand
Norbert Boeddeker
Source :
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol 18 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
Frontiers Media S.A., 2024.

Abstract

IntroductionIn order to successfully move from place to place, our brain often combines sensory inputs from various sources by dynamically weighting spatial cues according to their reliability and relevance for a given task. Two of the most important cues in navigation are the spatial arrangement of landmarks in the environment, and the continuous path integration of travelled distances and changes in direction. Several studies have shown that Bayesian integration of cues provides a good explanation for navigation in environments dominated by small numbers of easily identifiable landmarks. However, it remains largely unclear how cues are combined in more complex environments.MethodsTo investigate how humans process and combine landmarks and path integration in complex environments, we conducted a series of triangle completion experiments in virtual reality, in which we varied the number of landmarks from an open steppe to a dense forest, thus going beyond the spatially simple environments that have been studied in the past. We analysed spatial behaviour at both the population and individual level with linear regression models and developed a computational model, based on maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), to infer the underlying combination of cues.ResultsOverall homing performance was optimal in an environment containing three landmarks arranged around the goal location. With more than three landmarks, individual differences between participants in the use of cues are striking. For some, the addition of landmarks does not worsen their performance, whereas for others it seems to impair their use of landmark information.DiscussionIt appears that navigation success in complex environments depends on the ability to identify the correct clearing around the goal location, suggesting that some participants may not be able to see the forest for the trees.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
16625153
Volume :
18
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.2b76a23062f4c15858f8e0f825a89e0
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1399716