DHB From Where to What: The Dynamics of Spatial Cognition

人类的活动和思想是嵌入在我们周围的空间中，并被我们周围的空间丰富地组织起来。我们对我们周围的物体有详细的了解——它们在哪里，它们是什么，它们是如何相互排列的。在全新的环境中，我们可以很容易地记住物体的布局，很快地学会把东西放在哪里。这项资助调查了空间认知的动态，也就是说，在这种协调的空间行为的基础上的时间依赖的过程。空间认知通常被视为孤立的部分——空间感知、空间记忆、空间注意等。与这种方法相一致的是，神经生理学证据表明，视觉系统在功能和解剖学上存在分离，其中一条神经通路表示空间位置（“在哪里”），另一条神经通路表示物体属性信息（“什么”）。至关重要的是，尽管大多数行为都依赖于空间和物体信息，但我们对这两种途径中的信息是如何整合的知之甚少。这项拨款的目标是利用一种神经学上合理的工作记忆理论——动态神经场理论（DNFT），解决“在哪里”和“什么”系统的整合问题。这个理论抓住了人们如何在工作记忆中保存信息，他们如何使用感知线索来保持记忆信息的准确性，以及长期记忆是如何从这种混合中产生的。至关重要的是，我们的新模型不仅指定了物体的位置，还指定了这些物体是什么，以及如何将空间和物体信息结合起来指导行动。研究计划将这个新模型正式化，并通过10个实验测试一系列关键预测。DNFT是第一个空间认知理论，它以一种神经上合理的方式整合了感知、工作记忆和长期记忆，并对人们的行为做出了具体的预测。因此，这个项目将促进我们对控制人类在空间活动过程的理解——人们如何思考空间，人们如何组织空间活动，以及人们从一个环境带到另一个环境的世界本地“地图”。这些信息可能对群体和个人如何构建空间以促进交流、减少记忆和注意力需求产生关键影响。此外，有令人信服的证据表明，在“何处-什么”整合方面的缺陷是几种精神健康障碍中普遍存在的行为问题的基础。DNFT在解决可能导致这些行为障碍的行为和神经过程方面迈出了重要的一步。我们周围的空间对人类的思想和活动有着深远的影响。拟议的研究将使我们更接近于理解人类和社会动态的这一普遍方面。目前的工作也将推进两个教育目标。首先，PI和合作PI将建立国际研究生交流，以促进美国和德国有前途的学者的教育。其次，这笔拨款将用于支持一项高中推广计划，让AP微积分学生了解数学模型在“现实世界”科学中的应用。除了这些教育影响之外，拟议的项目将通过出版经验和理论手稿以及创建基于网络的动态场模拟器来影响一般学术界。

AbstractHuman activity and thought is embedded within and richly structured by the space around us. We have detailed knowledge of the objects that surround us-where they are, what they are, how they are arranged relative to one another. And we can easily remember the layout of objects in completely new situations, quickly learning which things go where. This grant investigates the dynamics of spatial cognition, that is, the time-dependent processes that underlie such coordinated spatial behaviors. Spatial cognition has typically been studied as isolated parts-spatial perception, spatial memory, spatial attention, and so on. Consistent with this approach, neurophysiological evidence suggests a functional and anatomical segregation of the visual system into one neural pathway that represents spatial locations ("where") and another neural pathway that represents object property information ("what"). Critically, we know very little about how information in these two pathways is integrated, despite the fact that most behaviors rely on both spatial and object information.The goal of this grant is to tackle the integration of "where" and "what" systems using a neurally-plausible theory of working memory, the Dynamic Neural Field Theory (DNFT). This theory captures how people hold information in working memory, how they use perceptual cues to keep memorized information accurate, and how long-term memories emerge from this mix. Critically, our new model specifies not just where objects are located, but what those objects are and how spatial and object information can be brought together to guide action. The research plan formalizes this new model and tests a set of critical predictions across 10 experiments.The DNFT is the first theory of spatial cognition that integrates perception, working memory, and long-term memory in a neurally-plausible way that makes specific predictions about how people behave. As such, this project will advance our understanding of the processes that govern human activity in space-how people think about space, how people organize spatial activities, and the local "maps" of the world people bring with them from context to context. Such information could have a critical impact on how groups and individuals structure spaces to foster communication and lessen memory and attentional demands. Moreover, there is compelling evidence that deficits in where-what integration underlie the behavior problems prevalent in several mental health disorders. The DNFT takes an important step toward addressing both the behavioral and neural processes that likely underlie these behavioral disorders. The space around us has a profound effect on human thought and activity. The proposed research will move us closer to understanding this pervasive aspect of human and social dynamics. The present work will advance two educational goals as well. First, the PI and co-PIs will establish an international graduate student exchange to foster the education of promising scholars in both the US and Germany. Second, funds from this grant will support a high school outreach program to expose AP calculus students to the application of mathematical models in "real world" science. Beyond these educational impacts, the proposed project will impact the general scholarly community through the publication of empirical and theoretical manuscripts and the creation of a web-based dynamic field simulator.