Distinct representations of spatial and categorical relationships across human scene-selective cortex

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Andrew S. Persichetti, Emory University; Daniel Dilks, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-10-15
• Publisher: United States National Academy of Sciences
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2019 National Academy of Sciences.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1903057116
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: PNAS
• Volume: 116
• Issue: 42
• Start Page: 21312
• End Page: 21317
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by grants from the National Eye Institute (R01 EY29724 to D.D.D. and T32 EY007092 to A.S.P.) and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (DGE-1444932 to A.S.P.).
• Keywords: parrahippoocampal place area (PPA); navigation; retrosplenial complex (RSC); scene processing; categorization
• Research Categories: Psychology, Cognitive; Biology, Neuroscience; Psychology, Behavioral

Abstract

Humans are capable of many sophisticated behaviors. One such behavior is using landmarks to navigate from one place to another, distant place. This type of navigation, known as landmark-based navigation, requires the navigator to extract spatial information from places in the environment. Another sophisticated behavior is recognizing the type of place one is in and acting appropriately in that environment (e.g., recognizing that you are in a kitchen, and thus making a cup of coffee). This type of behavior does not rely on spatial information so much as it relies on extracting cues related to the category membership of different places. Here we show that these complex interactions with our environment, navigating between places and recognizing them, are neurally dissociable.