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，并由我们周围的空间丰富地构成。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，它们是如何相对于彼此排列的。我们可以很容易地记住在全新的情况下物体的布局，快速学习哪些东西应该放在哪里。该基金研究空间认知的动力学，也就是说，这种协调的空间行为的基础依赖于时间的过程。空间认知通常被作为独立的部分来研究--空间知觉、空间记忆、空间注意等等。与这种方法相一致的是，神经生理学证据表明视觉系统的功能和解剖学分离为一个代表空间位置（“哪里”）的神经通路和另一个代表物体属性信息（“是什么”）的神经通路。重要的是，我们对这两条通路中的信息是如何整合的知之甚少，尽管事实上大多数行为都依赖于空间和物体信息。这项资助的目标是使用一种神经上合理的工作记忆理论，动态神经场理论（DNFT）来解决“在哪里”和“什么”系统的整合。这个理论描述了人们如何在工作记忆中保存信息，如何使用感知线索来保持记忆信息的准确性，以及长期记忆如何从这种混合中产生。重要的是，我们的新模型不仅指定了对象的位置，还指定了这些对象是什么，以及如何将空间和对象信息结合在一起来指导行动。DNFT是第一个将感知、工作记忆和长期记忆以一种神经上合理的方式整合在一起的空间认知理论，它可以对人们的行为做出具体的预测。因此，这个项目将促进我们对人类在太空活动的过程的理解人们如何看待太空，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的地方“地图”。这些信息可能会对群体和个人如何构建空间以促进沟通并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，赤字在哪里，什么整合的基础上的行为问题，在几个精神健康障碍普遍存在。DNFT朝着解决可能导致这些行为障碍的行为和神经过程迈出了重要的一步。我们周围的空间对人类的思想和活动有着深远的影响。拟议中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co-PI将建立一个国际研究生交流，以促进美国和德国有前途的学者的教育。其次，这笔赠款的资金将支持一个高中外展计划，使AP微积分学生接触到数学模型在“真实的世界”科学中的应用。除了这些教育影响，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.