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. Spatial memory was assessed using a virtual reality-based procedure, the Boxes Room task, and the visual working memory with the computer-based Change Localization Task. One hundred and twenty-three (n = 123) participants took part in this study. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) revealed a statistically significant relationship between working memory capacity and spatial abilities. Thereafter, two subgroups n = 60, were formed according to their performance in the working memory task (1st and 4th quartiles, n = 30 each). Results demonstrate that participants with high working memory capacity committed fewer mistakes in the spatial task compared to the low working memory capacity group. Both groups improved their performance through repeated trials of the spatial task, thus showing that they could learn spatial layouts independent of their working memory capacity. In conclusion, these findings support that spatial memory performance is directly related to working memory skills. This could be relevant for spatial memory assessment in brain lesioned patients

Social isolation and energy metabolism in rat hippocampus

El aislamiento social puede entenderse como una forma de deprivación sensorial. Se sabe que ambientes enriquecidos o complejos estimularmente afectan al SNC tanto a un nivel anatómico como fisiológico. En nuestro estudio, se usaron dos grupos de ratas, uno formado por animales aislados durante 30 días desde el final de la lactancia y un grupo control, que permaneció en grupos de tres animales durante el mismo período. Se analizó en los animales el metabolismo oxidativo cerebral del hipocampo (areas CA1, CA3 y giro dentado) mediante histoquímica para la citocromo c oxidasa (CO). Los resultados muestran un incremento significativo de la actividad CO en todas las regiones estudiadas en el grupo aislado, con diferencias entre las areas hipocampales en ambos grupos. Se discute la sensibilidad de la histoquímica de la CO en el estudio del posible papel activador del estrés en los animales aislado

Psicothema

Resumen tomado de la publicaciónOrientación sexual y memoria espacial. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la influencia de la orientación sexual en el aprendizaje y memoria espacial humana. Los participantes realizaron la prueba «Habitación de las Cajas». En el experimento I, una tarea de memoria de referencia, la posición de las cajas premiadas se mantuvo constante durante toda la sesión. En el experimento II, una tarea de memoria de trabajo, la posición de las cajas premiadas cambiaba de un bloque a otro. Cada bloque se componía de dos ensayos: un ensayo para la adquisición y otro para la recuperación. Los resultados del primer experimento demostraron que los hombres heterosexuales realizaron mejor la tarea que los varones homosexuales y las mujeres heterosexuales, al encontrar las cajas premiadas con mayor rapidez. Además, los participantes homosexuales cometieron más errores que los heterosexuales. El experimento II puso de manifiesto que las capacidades de memoria de trabajo no difieren. Estos resultados sugieren que la orientación sexual se asocia con la capacidad de navegación espacial, pero sobre todo en los hombres y se limita a la memoria de referencia, que depende más de la función del sistema hipocampal.AsturiasColegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Asturias; Calle Ildefonso Sánchez del Río, 4-1 B; 33001 Oviedo; Tel. +34985285778; Fax +34985281374;Universidad de Oviedo. Facultad de Psicología; Plaza Feijoo, s. n.; 33003 Oviedo; Tel. +34985104146; Fax +34985104126;ES

Aging: working memory capacity and spatial strategies in a virtual orientation task

Brain networks involved in working and spatial memory are closely intertwined, outlining a potential relation between these processes, which are also affected in non-pathological aging. Working memory is a pre-requisite for other complex cognitive processes. The main aim of this study is to explore how working memory capacity (WMC) can influence the asymmetrical decline in spatial orientation strategies in an older segment of population compared to young participants. Forty-eight older adults and twelve young students took part in the study. Working memory and spatial memory were assessed using the Change Localization Task and The Boxes Room Task, respectively. In The Boxes Room Task, two different configurations assessed the use of egocentric and allocentric reference frames. Results showed that older adults with better WMC outperformed those with lower WMC in several tasks. Independently of WMC capacity, older participants performed better in the allocentric condition of The Boxes Room. In addition, young participants outscored low WMC older participants, but did not differ from high WMC older adults. Overly, these findings support the important relationship between working memory capacity and spatial orientations abilities. Thus, basic cognitive mechanisms engaged in information processing could inform about other brain processes more complex in nature, like spatial orientation skills

Shall We Dance? Dancing Modulates Executive Functions and Spatial Memory by Carmen Noguera 1,2OrcID,Dolores Carmona 1,

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. With regard to this, dancing integrates physical exercise with music and involves retrieval of complex sequences of steps and movements creating choreographies. Methods: In this study, we compared 26 non-professional salsa dancers (mean age 55.3 years, age-range 49–70 years) with 20 non-dancers (mean age 57.6 years, age-range 49–70 years) by assessing two variables: their executive functions and spatial memory performance. Results: results showed that dancers scored better that non-dancers in our tests, outperforming controls in executive functions-related tasks. Groups did not differ in spatial memory performance. Conclusions: This work suggests that dancing can be a valid way of slowing down the natural age-related cognitive decline. A major limitation of this study is the lack of fitness assessment in both groups. In addition, since dancing combines multiple factors like social contact, aerobic exercise, cognitive work with rhythms, and music, it is difficult to determine the weight of each variable

The hippocampus is responsible for encoding both spatial and temporal aspects of information. Given that the hippocampus is dimorphic between the sexes, it might stand to reason that if there are differences in spatial ability, there are also differences in temporal ability, but there isn't much evidence to explore this. In both abilities it has been possible to verify that in different tasks there are significant differences in performance according to the age and sex of the participants. For this reason, the objective of this study was to verify whether dimorphism occurs according to biological sex in temporal perception tasks. For this, 55 participants were evaluated, of whom 25 were men and 30 women, all of them students at the University of Almería. This evaluation consisted of carrying out two tests of temporal perception similar to each other in the programming. They were presented with an object (in one task a car and in the other a square) that passed from the left to the right of the screen, having a different speed on each trial. In the center appeared a rectangle that caused the object to disappear for a variable time. The participants had to decide if the speed of the object was higher or lower in the invisible part when compared to the visible part. The results showed that there were differences between men and women in both tests, with men making fewer errors. This seems to be in line with the results found in the evaluation of spatial ability, which could indicate that there are apparently differences in the hippocampus between men and women. Another reason why these differences could appear is the use of strategies, both for spatial and temporal skills, different between both sexes. Future works can extend this evidence through the use of electroencephalography (EEG).

Sexual dimorphism in the estimation of temporal differences in a young population

Objetivos / Objectives Ubicarnos óptimamente en el espacio es fundamental para la vida diaria. Para ello, empleamos dos estrategias de orientación: egocéntrica (utiliza la posición del propio cuerpo como referencia) y alocéntrica (emplea claves del entorno, dependiente del hipocampo). Estas son moduladas por la memoria de trabajo, pero la influencia de la capacidad de percepción temporal y su relación con ellas aún requiere mayor investigación. Por ello, el objetivo de este trabajo es comprobar las diferencias de rendimiento según estrategia espacial (alocéntrica/egocéntrica), mediado por la memoria de trabajo y la percepción temporal simultáneamente. Metodología / Methodology Un total de 20 hombres y 21 mujeres, todos ellos estudiantes de la Universidad de la Sapienza, fueron evaluados empleando dos tareas virtuales de reconocimiento espacial (alocéntrica 3D y egocéntrica 2D). Ambas tareas contaron con dos tiempos de presentación diferentes para la imagen de muestra (3000/1000ms) para verificar su influencia en el rendimiento. También se emplearon otras dos tareas adicionales de memoria de trabajo y percepción temporal. Resultados y Conclusiones / Results & Conclusions Considerando memoria de trabajo y percepción temporal como covariables, en la tarea alocéntrica se encontró que los hombres tienen mejor rendimiento respecto a las mujeres, modulado por el tipo de ensayo (aciertos, falsas alarmas...). Por el contrario, en la tarea egocéntrica, no había diferencias en el rendimiento entre hombres y mujeres, pero sí entre cada tipo de ensayo. En líneas generales, se refleja una modulación diferencial de memoria de trabajo y percepción temporal para cada estrategia espacial. Específicamente, solo se encuentra un patrón conductual sexualmente dimórfico para la estrategia de orientación alocéntrica.

Performance differences between allocentric and egocentric spatial strategies mediated by working memory and temporal capacity