Associative Mechanisms of Spatial Cognition

描述（由申请人提供）：尽管有大量关于空间地图使用的文献，但对绘制空间地图所涉及的获取过程知之甚少。本项目探讨空间地图的获取和表达机制。空间地图是欧几里得空间的内部非中心表示，它编码对象的度量属性及其彼此和周围框架的空间关系。我们将在触摸屏和自动开放场地上使用操作性条件反射任务，这两种程序都是在我们的实验室开发的，用于研究鸽子的空间获取过程。从理论上讲，实验的动机是假设联想习得过程是空间关系编码和表达的机制。这一假设在之前的资助期间得到了强有力的支持。特别是，我们发现地标和隐藏目标之间的空间映射的编码遵循联想习得的规则。此外，高阶联想条件作用在一组地标和目标之间的地图整合中起重要作用。这项研究对某些表现出不同类型的空间认知障碍的疾病具有重要意义。例如，帕金森氏症患者很难整合事件的空间和时间序列，从而导致有计划、有组织的行为受损。另一方面，患有阿尔茨海默病的患者在利用空间的非中心表征的任务中表现出选择性损伤。患有亨廷顿氏病的患者表现出第三种类型的空间缺陷——受损的物体定位记忆。我们希望利用提出的鸽子程序来解开和定义空间认知的这些不同方面，这可能会导致更好地表征这些行为缺陷。公共卫生相关性：这项研究对表现出不同类型的空间认知障碍的疾病具有重要意义。例如，帕金森氏症患者在空间组织行为方面存在缺陷，阿尔茨海默氏症患者在利用空间的心理地图方面存在困难，亨廷顿氏症患者在物体定位记忆方面存在缺陷。这项研究将有助于理清和定义空间认知的这些不同方面，这将有助于我们更好地理解这些行为缺陷。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Although there is a large body of literature about the use of spatial maps, very little is known about the acquisition processes involved in building spatial maps. This project explores the mechanisms underlying the acquisition and expression of spatial maps. Spatial maps are internal allocentric representations of Euclidean space that encode the metric properties of objects and their spatial relationships to each other and the surrounding framework. We will use operant conditioning tasks on the touch screen and in an automated open field, both procedures which were developed in our lab to study spatial acquisition processes in pigeons. The experiments are theoretically motivated by the hypothesis that associative acquisition processes serves as the mechanism for the encoding and expression of spatial relationships. This hypothesis has received strong support during the prior period of funding. In particular, we have found that the encoding of the spatial map between a landmark and a hidden goal obeys the rules of associative acquisition. Furthermore, higher-order associative conditioning plays an important role in the integration of maps among a set of landmarks and goals. This research has important implications for certain disorders that exhibit different types of impairments in spatial cognition. Parkinson's disease patients, for example, have difficulty integrating spatial and temporal sequences of events which leads to impairments in planned, organized behavior. Patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease, on the other hand, show a selective impairment in tasks that utilize allocentric representations of space. Patients with Huntington's disease show a third type of spatial deficit - impaired object-location memory. We hope to use the proposed pigeon procedures to disentangle and define these different aspects of spatial cognition, which could lead to a better characterization of these behavioral deficits. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This research has important implications for disorders that exhibit different types of impairments in spatial cognition. Parkinson's disease patients, for example, show deficits in spatially organized behavior, while Alzheimer's disease patients have difficulty utilizing mental maps of space, and patients with Huntington's disease show impairments of object-location memory. The proposed research will help disentangle and define these different aspects of spatial cognition, which could help us to better understand these behavioral deficits.