Processing and Integration of Sensory Information in Spatial Navigation
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Processing and Integration of Sensory Information in Spatial Navigation Dissertation zur Erlangung des Grades Doktor der Naturwissenschaften (Dr. rer. nat.) im Fachbereich Humanwissenschaften der Universität Osnabrück vorgelegt von Caspar Mathias Goeke Osnabrück, im November 2016 Supervisors 1st Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Peter König University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany 2nd Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Klaus Gramann Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany 3rd Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Riecke Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada Additional Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Gordon Pipa University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany Curriculum Vitae Caspar Goeke Schepelerstr. 21, [email protected] 49074 Osnabrück +49 157 5521 5307 Germany Journal Articles Goeke, C., König, S. U., Meilinger, T., & König, P. (submitted). Are non- egocentric spatial reference frames compatible with enacted theories? Scientific Reports König, S. U., Schumann, F., Keyser, J., Goeke, C., Krause, C., Wache, S., … Peter, K. (in press). Learning New Sensorimotor Contingencies: Effects of Long- term Use of Sensory Augmentation on the Brain and Conscious Perception. PloS One. Goeke, C. M., Planera, S., Finger, H., & König, P. (2016). Bayesian Alternation during Tactile Augmentation. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 10, 187. Goeke, C., Kornpetpanee, S., Köster, M., Fernández-Revelles, A. B., Gramann, K., & König, P. (2015). Cultural background shapes spatial reference frame proclivity. Scientific reports, 5. Goeke, C. M., König, P., & Gramann, K. (2013). Different strategies for spatial updating in yaw and pitch path integration. Front Behav Neurosci,7. Conference Contributions A Bayesian Approach to Multimodal Integration between Augmented and Innate Sensory Modalities, Osnabrück Computational Cognition Alliance Meeting, Osnabrück, Germany 2014 Cultural impact on strategy selection mechanisms, Annual Meeting of Experimental Psychologists, Gießen, Germany, 2014. Individual Differences in Spatial Navigation, German Annual Neuroscience Meeting, Göttingen, 2013. Investigating Reference Frame Proclivities in a virtual Navigation Task, Osnabrück Computational Cognition Alliance Meeting, Osnabrück, Germany 2012. Properties and Mechanisms of Sensory Enhancement, Proceedings of KogWis, Bamberg, Germany 2012. Top-down but not bottom-up visual attention is mediated by parietal cortical areas during natural viewing, European Conference of Eye Movements, Marseille, France, 2011. Supervised B.Sc. and M.Sc. Theses 2016, Greta Häberle (B.Sc.): Neural correlates of multimodal sensory integration between an innate and an augmented sensory modality 2015, Serena Planera (M.Sc.): A Bayesian Approach to Multimodal Integration between an Innate and an Augmented Sensory Modality 2014, Antonia Kaiser (B.Sc.): Alignment - A mental feature of object representation? 2013, Ann-Kristin Meyer (B.Sc.): Influences of body position, motion and vibrotactile information on the performance in a triangle completion task. 2013, Claudia Heller (B.Sc.): Changes in navigation performance in a virtual triangle completion task under altered body positions, motion, and vibrotactile information. 2013, Doreen Jakob (B.Sc.): Development of Reference Frame Use across Age and Gender. Teaching SS2016 Action & Cognition II Seminar WS2016 Action & Cognition I Seminar SS2015 Action & Cognition II Seminar WS2015 Action & Cognition I Seminar Abstract As nomads, humanity constantly moved and relocated for hundred thousands of years. Thereby, individuals or small groups of people had to navigate over very long distances in order to survive. As a result, successful spatial navigation was one of the key cognitive abilities, which ensured our survival. Although navigation has nowadays become less life-threatening, exploring our environment and efficiently navigating between places are still very important aspects in our everyday life. However, in order to be able to navigate efficiently, our brain has to perform a series of spatial cognitive operations. This dissertation is structured into three sections, which explore these cognitive operations from three different perspectives. In the first section I will elaborate about the role of reference frames in human spatial navigation. Specifically, in an online navigation study (study one) I will show that humans have distinct but stable reference frame proclivities. Furthermore, this study demonstrates the existence of a spatial strategy, in which the preference to use a particular reference frame is dependent on the axis of rotation (horizontal vs. vertical). In a follow-up study (study two) I will then analyze the factors underlying performance differences in navigation, as well as individual preferences using one or another spatial strategy. Interestingly, the results suggest that performance measures (reaction time and error rate) are influenced mostly by the factors gender and age. However, even more importantly, I will show that the prevalent factor, which influences the choice for an individual navigation strategy, is the cultural background of the participant. This underlines the importance of socio-economic aspects in human spatial navigation. In the second part of this thesis I will then discuss aspects of learning and memorizing spatial information. In this respect, the alignment study (study three) will show that humans are able to recall object-to-object relations (e.g. how to get from A to B) in a very brief time, indicating that such information is directly stored in memory. This supports an embodied (action-oriented) perspective of human spatial cognition. Following this approach, in the feelSpace study (study four) I will then investigate the long-term training effects with a sensory augmentation device. Most importantly, the respective results will demonstrate substantial changes in the subjective perception of space, in sleep stage architecture, and in neural oscillations during sleep. In the third and last section I will describe the importance of multimodal processes in spatial cognitive operations. Most importantly, in the platform study (study five) I will combine the topics of sensory augmentation and Bayesian cue combination. The results of this study show that untrained adult participants alternate rather than integrate between augmented and native sensory information. Interestingly, this alternation is based on a subjective evaluation of cue reliability. In summary, this thesis will present relevant and new findings for better understanding spatial strategy formation, learning and representing spatial relations in memory, and multimodal cue combination. An important and overarching aspect of this thesis is the characterization of individual differences in the context of human spatial navigation. Specifically, my research revealed individual differences in three areas: First, in utilizing egocentric or allocentric reference frames for spatial updating, second in individualized qualitative changes of space perception during long-term sensory augmentation, and third, in preferences to use native or augmented information in a cue combination task. Most importantly, I will provide a better definition and understanding of these individual differences, by combining qualitative and quantitative measures and using latest technologies such as online data recordings and interactive experimental setups. In fact, in the real world, humans are very active beings who follow individualized spatial cognitive strategies. Studying such interactive and individualized behavior will ultimately lead to more coherent and meaningful insights within the human sciences. Table of Content 1. SYNOPSIS ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 REFERENCE FRAMES IN HUMAN NAVIGATION ........................................................................ 1 1.2 SPATIAL NAVIGATION & THEORIES OF COGNITION ................................................................ 12 1.3 MULTIMODAL PROCESSING & SENSORY AUGMENTATION ...................................................... 21 1.4 GENERAL DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 30 2. STUDY ONE: THE FIRST ONLINE NAVIGATION STUDY .................................................. 35 2.1 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 36 2.2 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 37 2.3 METHODS ..................................................................................................................... 41 2.4 RESULTS ....................................................................................................................... 46 2.5 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................. 56 2.6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... 60 3. STUDY TWO: THE FOLLOW-UP ONLINE NAVIGATION STUDY ...................................... 61 3.1 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 62 3.2 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 63 3.3 RESULTS ......................................................................................................................