The Contribution of Internal and External Factors to Human Spatial Navigation.

Spatial navigation is a multifaceted cognitive function essential for planning and finding routes in one's environment [...

Heart rate variability modulates memory function in a virtual task.

Heart rate variability (HRV) is considered one of the most relevant indicators of physical well-being and relevant biomarker for preventing cardiovascular risks. More recently, a growing amount of research has tracked an association between HRV and cognitive functions (i.e.

Application of Virtual Reality in Spatial Memory.

In recent years, virtual reality (VR) has become a widely used tool with a plethora of applications in neuroscience [...

Reversal Training Discloses Gender Differences in a Spatial Memory Task in Humans.

Over the past few years, spatial memory has been studied using virtual-reality-based tasks. Reversal learning has been widely used in spatial orientation tasks for testing, among other things, new learning and flexibility. By means of a reversal-learning protocol, we assessed spatial memory in men and women.

Clockwise rotation of perspective view improves spatial recognition of complex environments in aging.

Deciphering the human spatial cognition system involves the development of simple tasks to assess how our brain works with shapes and forms. Prior studies in the mental rotation field disclosed a clockwise rotation bias on how basic stimuli are perceived and processed. However, there is a lack of a substantial scientific background for complex stimuli and how factors like sex or aging could influence them.

Pre-pandemic Psychobiological Features Predict Impact of COVID-19 Confinement on Loneliness.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to various government-imposed limitations on social interaction and strict home confinement. Such involuntary social-distancing policies can exacerbate feelings of loneliness and alter emotional well-being. Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis is a potential mechanism for loneliness' deleterious health effects.

Spatial Recognition Memory: Differential Brain Strategic Activation According to Sex.

Human spatial memory research has significantly progressed since the development of computerized tasks, with many studies examining sex-related performances. However, few studies explore the underlying electrophysiological correlates according to sex. In this study event-related potentials were compared between male and female participants during the performance of an allocentric spatial recognition task.

Sex Differences in Spatial Memory: Comparison of Three Tasks Using the Same Virtual Context.

Spatial memory has been studied through different instruments and tools with different modalities of administration. The cognitive load varies depending on the measure used and it should be taken into account to correctly interpret results. The aim of this research was to analyze how men and women perform three different spatial memory tasks with the same spatial context but with different cognitive demands.

Virtual Morris water maze: opportunities and challenges.

The ability to accurately recall locations and navigate our environment relies on multiple cognitive mechanisms. The behavioural and neural correlates of spatial navigation have been repeatedly examined using different types of mazes and tasks with animals. Accurate performances of many of these tasks have proven to depend on specific circuits and brain structures and some have become the standard test of memory in many disease models.

Differential Susceptibility to the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Working Memory, Empathy, and Perceived Stress: The Role of Cortisol and Resilience.

There are important individual differences in adaptation and reactivity to stressful challenges. Being subjected to strict social confinement is a distressful psychological experience leading to reduced emotional well-being, but it is not known how it can affect the cognitive and empathic tendencies of different individuals. Cortisol, a key glucocorticoid in humans, is a strong modulator of brain function, behavior, and cognition, and the diurnal cortisol rhythm has been postulated to interact with environmental stressors to predict stress adaptation.

Spatial skills.

Spatial skills represent an important part of our cognitive processes and have been widely studied in the last decades. The term "spatial skills" includes several abilities, some of them clearly sexually dimorphic. Thus men usually perform better than women in mental rotation and spatial orientation tasks, whereas women outperform men in object location memory tests.

Allocentric Spatial Memory Performance in a Virtual Reality-Based Task is Conditioned by Visuospatial Working Memory Capacity.

Traditionally, the medial temporal lobe has been considered a key brain region for spatial memory. Nevertheless, executive functions, such as working memory, also play an important role in complex behaviors, such as spatial navigation. Thus, the main goal of this study is to clarify the relationship between working memory capacity and spatial memory performance.

Shall We Dance? Dancing Modulates Executive Functions and Spatial Memory.

Background: Aging is generally considered to be related to physical and cognitive decline. This is especially prominent in the frontal and parietal lobes, underlying executive functions and spatial memory, respectively. This process could be successfully mitigated in certain ways, such as through the practice of aerobic sports.

Age-related differences in the elderly in a spatial recognition task.

Spatial memory is a cognitive ability which declines with ageing thus showing changes in some process such as the use of allocentric strategies. These age-related changes in spatial orientation suggest that this skill could be an adequate marker of cognitive decline. Many tasks used in investigation to assess spatial memory demand a participant's active role, which involves that the navigational experience is different for everyone.

Ten years younger: Practice of chronic aerobic exercise improves attention and spatial memory functions in ageing.

Aerobic exercise is associated with changes in brain morphology and improvement of cognitive functions. Physical activity may be especially important after age 60 when cognitive decline is more pronounced. In this paper, the effect of chronic practice of aerobic sports was studied in old adults by assessing their executive and mnesic functions, supported by frontal and temporal brain structures.

Virtual reality assessment of walking and non-walking space in men and women with virtual reality-based tasks.

Far space and near space refer to different spatial features in which we unfold our behaviour. On the one hand, classical visuospatial neuropsychological tests assess spatial abilities in the near space; on the other, far space typically involves new spatial memory tasks in which participants display their behaviour in an environment, either interacting with objects or searching for targets. The Boxes Room Task is a virtual test that assesses spatial memory in the far space.

Walking and non-walking space in an equivalent virtual reality task: Sexual dimorphism and aging decline of spatial abilities.

Spatial memory enables us to locate places and objects in space, to determine our position and manage spatial relationships in our environment. Our operations are displayed in a space that sometimes is inaccessible. In this case, the impossibility of movement within the context forces individuals to rely on the information gathered from limited viewpoints.

Differences in Spatial Memory Recognition Due to Cognitive Style.

Field independence refers to the ability to perceive details from the surrounding context as a whole and to represent the environment by relying on an internal reference frame. Conversely, field dependence individuals tend to focus their attention on single environmental features analysing them individually. This cognitive style affects several visuo-spatial abilities including spatial memory.

Almeria spatial memory recognition test (ASMRT): Gender differences emerged in a new passive spatial task.

Many different human spatial memory tasks were developed in the last two decades. Virtual reality based tasks make possible developing different scenarios and situations to assess spatial orientation but sometimes these tasks are complex for specific populations like children and older-adults. A new spatial task with a very limited technological requirement was developed in this study.

Human sex differences in solving a virtual navigation problem.

The current study examined sex differences in initial and subsequent strategies in solving a navigational problem within a virtual reality environment. We tested 163 undergraduates on a virtual T-maze task that included probe trials designed to assess whether participants were responding using either a place or response strategy. Participants were also tested on a mental rotation task and memory of the details of the virtual room.

Age and gender-related differences in a spatial memory task in humans.

Cognitive skills decline with age. Our ability to keep oriented in our surrounding environment was demonstrated to be influenced by factors like age and gender. Introduction of virtual reality based tasks improved assessment of spatial memory in humans.

Practice of aerobic sports is associated with better spatial memory in adults and older men.

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: Cognitive abilities experience diverse age-related changes. Memory complaints are common in aging. The practice of sports is known to benefit brain functioning, improving memory among other abilities.

Spatial learning in a virtual reality-based task is altered in very preterm children.

Very preterm births prevent a complete development of the nervous system. The hippocampus is especially vulnerable in this population since the perinatal period is critical for its growth and development. Learning and memory abilities, like spatial memory, depend on the hippocampal integrity.

Spatial memory alterations in children with epilepsy of genetic origin or unknown cause.

Genetic generalised epilepsy or epilepsy of unknown cause can remit before adolescence. In many children, the disease does not interfere with their academic achievement. Although there are neuropsychological studies characterising the cognitive profile, there are no studies in this population focused on spatial orientation abilities.

Developmental gender differences in children in a virtual spatial memory task.

Objective: Behavioral achievements are the product of brain maturation. During postnatal development, the medial temporal lobe completes its maturation, and children acquire new memory abilities. In recent years, virtual reality-based tasks have been introduced in the neuropsychology field to assess different cognitive functions.