Assessing Human Spatial Navigation in a Virtual Space and its Sensitivity to Exercise

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dc.contributor.authorSmith, Alana J.en
dc.contributor.authorTasnim, Nooren
dc.contributor.authorPsaras, Zachen
dc.contributor.authorGyamfi, Daphneen
dc.contributor.authorMakani, Krishnaen
dc.contributor.authorSuzuki, Wendy A.en
dc.contributor.authorBasso, Julia C.en
dc.date.accessioned2024-06-07T17:32:12Zen
dc.date.available2024-06-07T17:32:12Zen
dc.date.issued2024-01-26en
dc.description.abstractSpatial navigation (SN) is the ability to locomote through the environment, which requires an understanding of where one is located in time and space. This capacity is known to rely on the sequential firing of place cells within the hippocampus. SN is an important behavior to investigate as this process deteriorates with age, especially in neurodegenerative disorders. However, the investigation of SN is limited by the lack of sophisticated behavioral techniques to assess this hippocampal-dependent task. Therefore, the goal of this protocol was to develop a novel, real-world approach to studying SN in humans. Specifically, an active virtual SN task was developed using a cross-platform game engine. During the encoding phase, participants navigated their way through a virtual city to locate landmarks. During the remembering phase, participants remembered where these reward locations were and delivered items to these locations. Time to find each location was captured and episodic memory was assessed by a free recall phase, including aspects of place, order, item, and association. Movement behavior (x, y, and z coordinates) was assessed through an asset available in the game engine. Importantly, results from this task demonstrate that it accurately captures both spatial learning and memory abilities as well as episodic memory. Further, findings indicate that this task is sensitive to exercise, which improves hippocampal functioning. Overall, the findings suggest a novel way to track human hippocampal functioning over the course of time, with this behavior being sensitive to physical activity training paradigms.en
dc.description.sponsorshipThis work was supported by the iTHRIV Scholars Program, which is supported in part by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the NIH (UL1TR003015 and KL2TR003016).en
dc.format.extent21 pagesen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationSmith, A.J., Tasnim, N., Psaras, Z., Gyamfi, D., Makani, K., Suzuki, W.A., Basso, J.C. Assessing Human Spatial Navigation in a Virtual Space and its Sensitivity to Exercise. J. Vis. Exp. (203), e65332, doi:10.3791/65332 (2024).en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3791/65332en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10919/119345en
dc.identifier.volume203en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherMyJove Corporationen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United Statesen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/us/en
dc.titleAssessing Human Spatial Navigation in a Virtual Space and its Sensitivity to Exerciseen
dc.title.serialThe Journal of Visualized Experimentsen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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