A Multiple-Choice Maze-like Spatial Navigation Task for Humans Implemented in a Real-Space, Multipurpose Circular Arena
Source abstract
Abstract
Spatial navigation is a key aspect of human behavior and it is still not completely understood. A number of experimental approaches exist, although most of the published data in the last decades have relied on virtual maze on-screen simulation or not-completely freely moving 3D devices. Some interesting recent developments, such as circular mazes, have contributed to analyze critical aspects of freely moving human spatial navigation in real space, although dedicated protocols only allow for simple approaches. Here, we have developed both specifically designed and home-assembled hardware equipment, and a customized protocol for spatial navigation evaluation in freely moving humans in a real space circular arena. The spatial navigation protocol poses an imitation of a real-space multiple-choice path maze with cul-de-sac and instances of non-linear movement. We have compared the results of this system to those of a number of validated, both virtual and real, spatial navigation tests in a group of participants. The system composed by hardware, the test protocol, and dedicated measure analysis designed in our laboratory allows us to evaluate human spatial navigation in a complex maze with a small and portable structure, yielding a highly flexible, adaptable, and versatile access to information about the subjects’ spatial navigation abilities.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Spatial Cognition and Navigation · Gaze Tracking and Assistive Technology · Evacuation and Crowd Dynamics
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department Translational Neuroscience, Cajal Institute, CSIC, 28002 Madrid, Spain
PhD Program in Neuroscience, Autónoma de Madrid University-Cajal Institute, 28002 Madrid, Spain
Department Morphology and Cell Biology, Anatomy Area, University of Oviedo, 33006 Asturias, Spain
Health Research Institute of Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Asturias, Spain
Department Functional Biology, Physiology Area, University of Oviedo, 33006 Asturias, Spain
Clinical Laboratory Unit, Department of Sport and Health, Spanish Commission for the Fight against Doping in Sport (Comisión Española para la Lucha Antidopaje en el Deporte—CELAD), 28040 Madrid, Spain
Butler Scientifics, 08023 Barcelona, Spain
Department Physical Education, Sport and Human Movement, Universidad Autónoma of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
FENNSI Group, Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos, SESCAM, 45004 Toledo, Spain
Unidad Avanzada de Neurorrehabilitación, Hospital Los Madroños, 28690 Brunete, Spain
Department of Cellular, Molecular, and Developmental Neurobiology, Cajal Institute, CSIC, 28002 Madrid, Spain
Funding
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación · Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad · Ministerio de Universidades
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