PSY260 - 6. Spatial Memory Flashcards
Spatial memory
Relationships among features in our environment, of ourselves to our environ
Spatial abilities allows us to have spatial relationship
Keep track of location in environment
Position in space
How to move through the environment
Spatial memory
Where something is located How to get there Possible alternate routes Where were we in the past? Transferring spatial info to others Celestial navigation – ability to navigate according to moon, sun, stars
bees’ waggle dance and Sun compass orientation
Migration: ability to know where you are, critical for migratory species
Use a variety of cues: mountains, can navigate past mountains
Neural mechanism: amounts to a picture – relationships amongst features of environment + betw organism
Spatial memory
Foundation of episodic memory
Ability to keep track of where we came on – able to retain info about the path
Barnes Maze
test ability to use peripheral cues to let them know where they are
Viscal cues – features of environ - let them know where they are
Animal will explore plate for an escape
Moving escape + see if animals use the viscal cues
Moving viscal cues – use it + go to the wrong hole
Y-Maze
less exploration – basic understandings: what’s on right + what’s on left
Water Maze: animal motivated to go on platform, has to swim around
After few trials will move directly to it
Removing platform – still goes to where it’s supposed to be
Hippocampus
Damage impairs spatial memory – ability to remember new associations in general
Map of single neurons firing as it moves through environment
Firing rate varies depending on where animal is in environment
Multiple cells appear to encode + respond to sensory input when animal is in a particular position
Rats in Maze
Rat has electrode stimulating hippocampal neurons
Maze: all way along neurons firing + stopping
Not all neurons fire in particular places + some fire in multiple places
More at corners
Cells not firing at same time, one cluster fires, others are silent
Stable sequence of neuronal firing
Rats in Maze
Each cell fires because it is getting some sort of sensory input
After few times: cells more + more reliably activated, are being conditioned
Becomes faster + if reinforced runs through very fast
When it starts dreaming: it recapitulates this pattern
Brain is going through same process as exploration phase
Place cells
fire at particular place
Represent location of animal
firing in response appearing to randomly dispersed in hippocampus
place cells that fire are ones that are not busy/already associated with something else
Edge cells
fire preferentially when next to edge of environment
Specialization within place cells
Grid cells
fire at particular position, move out stop firing, move in fire again
Concentrated firing: paying attention to location + how far animal moved from original spot
Sense of distance from something
fire – differentiate particular place – more likely to fire at place that tell person something
endorithal cortex
retain image of world
Recording cells that are active: when they become active we find these cells, but these cells were also active when first put in environment
endorithal cortex
if location is encoded by there cells is associated with environmental features: learning takes shape – place cells become more refined the more experience animal has with environment
Spatial learning
When wasps leave home to forage, they use orientation flight to collect visual information about landmarks that way later help them locate the burrow
If landmarks repositioned while wasp is away, Wasp will search for borough based on landmarks, reviewing it has learned about special relationship between burrow + surrounding landmarks
