Human topographical orientation: individual variability and neural mechanisms

人体地形定向：个体差异和神经机制

• 批准号: 386148-2010
• 负责人: Iaria, Giuseppe
• 金额: $ 2.04万
• 依托单位: University of Calgary
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=550310
• 关键词: Human; topographical; orientation; individual; variability

The ability to orient in the surrounding is one of the most complex human behaviors. Some studies suggest that this complexity relies on environmental factors, such as the density of meaningful landmarks available within the environment. Other studies suggest that in addition to environmental factors, the spontaneous bias that individuals show in using certain environmental information contributes to the complexity of the phenomenon, resulting in a high variability across individuals in adopting different orientation strategies. Although both of these factors may contribute to the complexity of orientation in humans, there is evidence that individuals vary in their orientation skills irrespective of both the environment in which they move and the strategies that they may use for orientation. In the present research program, we aim to investigate the hypothesis that such variability in individual orientation skills may depend in part on the functionality and integrity of those brain regions known to be responsible for orientation in humans. To achieve this objective, we will make use of virtual reality environments in which young healthy participants will perform different navigational tasks by using different orientation strategies. This will allow us to select groups of individuals with poor or good skills in using selective orientation strategies. These groups of individuals will then participate in a series of neuroimaging projects including functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) studies. The fMRI studies will assess the neural activity of different brain regions involved while individuals make use of selective orientation strategies, and how that neural activity relates to the individuals' orientation skills. The DTI studies will investigate the molecular properties of those brain regions involved in orientation, and how their structural organization relates to the variability observed across individuals in their ability to make use of different orientation strategies. The evidence of a strong relationship between variability in behavior and variability in neural mechanisms will be a critical source of information to explain the basic fundamental mechanisms of orientation in humans.

在周围环境中定位的能力是最复杂的人类行为之一。一些研究表明，这种复杂性取决于环境因素，例如环境中可用的有意义地标的密度。其他研究表明，除了环境因素外，个体在使用某些环境信息时表现出的自发偏见也导致了现象的复杂性，导致个体在采用不同的定向策略时存在很大的差异。尽管这两个因素都可能导致人类定向的复杂性，但有证据表明，个体的定向技能各不相同，无论他们移动的环境以及他们可能使用的定向策略如何。在目前的研究项目中，我们的目标是研究这样一个假设：个体定向技能的这种变异可能部分取决于已知负责人类定向的大脑区域的功能和完整性。为了实现这一目标，我们将利用虚拟现实环境，年轻健康的参与者将通过使用不同的定向策略来执行不同的导航任务。这将使我们能够选择在使用选择性定向策略方面技能较差或良好的个人群体。这些个体随后将参与一系列神经影像项目，包括功能磁共振成像（fMRI）和扩散张量成像（DTI）研究。功能磁共振成像研究将评估个体使用选择性定向策略时所涉及的不同大脑区域的神经活动，以及神经活动与个体定向技能的关系。 DTI 研究将调查参与定向的大脑区域的分子特性，以及它们的结构组织如何与个体使用不同定向策略的能力的变异性相关。行为变异性与神经机制变异性之间存在密切关系的证据将成为解释人类定向基本机制的关键信息来源。