1. On the Move: Understanding how impaired mobility impacts virtual navigation in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Alexis N. Chargo, MOT, OTR/L1,2, Taylor N. Takla, BS3,4, Nora E. Fritz, PhD, PT, DPT, NCS3,4,5,6 †, Ana M. Daugherty, PhD1,2,4 †
1Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA, 2Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA, 3Neuroimaging and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA, 4Translational Neuroscience Program, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA, 5Deaprtment of Health Care Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA, 6Department of Neurology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
Abstract: Spatial navigation ability is essential for independent living, and it relies on complex cognitive and motor processes that are vulnerable to decline in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS). The role of mobility in the physical act of navigation has been well documented, however its impact on cognitive processing that supports efficient navigation and recall of the environment is unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine relations between clinical mobility function and navigation ability in pwMS using Spearman correlations. We examined performance in a virtual Morris water maze while seated at a computer with subsequent free recall of environment details using a map reproduction task in a clinical sample of 43 individuals with relapsing-remitting MS (MPDDS = 2; age 25 – 67 years). Individuals with worse mobility measured by slower Timed 25-Foot Walk (T25FW) in the forward (FW) direction had traveled less efficient routes to the goal location (distance; ρ = .415, p = .006) (time; ρ = .422, p = .005) and recalled fewer accurate details of the environment (ρ = -.335, p = .030). A similar trend was observed for slower T25FW in the backward (BW) direction and less efficient route travel (distance; ρ = .435, p = .003) (time; ρ = .441, p = .004); however, there was a non-significant association with recall of environment details (ρ = .290, p = .062). A stratified analysis by disability (Patient Determined Disease Steps; PDDS >3) revealed comparable results for those with low disability and effects were attenuated in individuals with high disability. Given that virtual navigation is performed while seated, evidence of any correlation with mobility suggests differences in navigation ability that cannot be ascribed to general walking impairment, with results building on our understanding of the intersection between cognition and mobility during navigation.
2. Investigating the Existence and Location of Border Proximity Signals in the Human Brain: an fMRI Study
Lead Author: Anna Sterzer, Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract: Previous research in rodents has identified cells in the subiculum and medial entorhinal cortex (EC) that code for boundary proximity, but the existence and location of these cells in humans has not yet been determined. In epilepsy patients, intracranial electrodes detected stronger theta oscillations in the subiculum when in close proximity with a boundary. Additionally, an fMRI study implicated the posterior EC and subiculum in encoding allocentric boundary direction. These existing studies are either not generalizable or focus on aspects other than boundary distance, prompting the need for further research into a more general border proximity signal that can be observed in fMRI data.
To further explore these signals, we chose to analyze data collected from our lab’s previous fMRI study. In this experiment, participants were asked to navigate a virtual space that was either open-field or made up of different boundary configurations. We plan to use parametric modulation to examine how the BOLD signal covaries with barrier proximity, employing different variables to represent this distance. Future models will include the average distance to each barrier, change in minimum distance, and visibility of the barrier to the participant. It is expected that border-related cells will be found in the subiculum or EC, and the results will provide initial support for the existence of a barrier proximity- dependent brain region in humans.
3. Symptom Severity in Post-Concussive Vestibular Dysfunction is Positively Correlated with Optic Flow in Visual Scenes
Lead Author: Ashwini Tulpule, Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract: Patients with concussion often display symptoms long after the injury has occurred. These effects can interfere with daily activities, such as navigating through familiar areas, due to symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, and difficulties with balance caused by damage to peripheral or central vestibular processing. In this study, patients with chronic and acute concussions watched videos portraying various environments while in an fMRI scanner, then reported changes in vestibular symptoms after each video. After correlating scene complexity and changes in symptoms, we found a strong positive relationship between increasing video optic flow (a measure of the relative movement of a visual scene) and symptomatic reports. These findings suggest that visual motion plays a crucial role in amplifying symptoms indicative of vestibular disorder in patients who have sustained concussions. Clinically, managing these stimuli and learning how to process them may help with patient recovery.
4. Systematically Defining What Makes an A-Modal Map Representation
Lead Author: Brandon Biggs, Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract: Since the creation of digital maps in the mid-20th century, focus has been almost exclusively on the visual representation of maps. With the increasing importance of accessibility, and recognition of the importance of multisensory representations (e.g., representations requiring two or more senses to comprehend) and cross-sensory representations (e.g., representations equally presenting information in two or more modalities), it’s critical to abstract the information that can be ascertained from a map to ensure all sensory map representations equally convey the same information. This abstraction can be performed using the framework of spatial knowledge, including the elements of landmark, route, and survey knowledge. Landmark knowledge includes the sensory characteristics, name, type, shape, orientation, and size of a particular feature (features include all points, polygons, and lines) on the map; Route knowledge includes how two features connect including distance, direction, legs of the route, and shape of the route; and Survey knowledge is the overall understanding of how all the features relate through their distance, direction, shape, size, orientation, and general layout on the map. For thematic maps, the additional element of the multivariate numeric information needs to be added as an element to each knowledge area as well. Using this framework, it is possible to quantitatively evaluate the fidelity and equality of different map representations across visual, auditory, tactile, and textual modalities. Constructive feedback is desired on this evaluation framework.
5. Gait Disorientation is Associated with Balance-confidence, Dizziness-handicap, and Sensory Organization
Authors: Keenan Batts1, Bryan C. Heiderscheit2, Susan L. Whitney3, Colin R. Grove1
1Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 2University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 3University of Pittsburgh, Sewickley, PA
Abstract:
Introduction: Dizziness or imbalance annually affects an estimated 33 million American adults, two-thirds of whom may have vestibular dysfunction. Previously, we demonstrated that performance on the Gait Disorientation Test (GDT) can discriminate between healthy and vestibular-impaired adults. Here, we further assessed associations between GDT performance and factors that may influence spatial navigation, specifically balance-related self-confidence, perceived impact of dizziness, and the ability to utilize sensory inputs for postural control.
Methods: Forty participants (20 vestibular-impaired, 30 women, 49.9 ± 16.1 years old) completed the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABCS); Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI); Sensory Organization Test (SOT), and the GDT. The composite score (COMP) and the somatosensory (SOM), vision (VIS), vestibular (VEST), and visual preference (PREF) scores were obtained for the SOT. The GDT result was calculated by subtracting the time needed to walk 20 feet with eyes open from the time needed to walk 20 feet with eyes closed. We assessed concurrent validity with Spearman’s correlations, reported as rho (95% confidence interval).
Results: Performance on the GDT was associated with the ABCS (-0.69 [-0.83, -0.49], p<0.001), DHI (0.75 [0.57, 0.86)], p<0.001), COMP (-0.74 [-0.85, -0.56], p<0.001), VIS (-0.55 [-0.64, -0.45], p<0.001), and VEST (-0.58 [-0.66, -0.48], p<0.001) but not with SOM (-0.11 [-0.24, 0.03], p=0.125) or PREF (-0.1 [-0.23, 0.04], p=0.174).
Conclusions: The severity of gait disorientation is moderately to strongly associated with self- reported balance-confidence, dizziness-handicap, and the ability to utilize visual and vestibular afference to maintain quiet standing. Thus, the GDT appears to capture aspects of spatial navigation.
6. Effect of demographic factors on navigation ability in a naturalistic, virtual reality environment
Authors: Emma Funderburg; Yasmine Bassil; Emily Cui; Ashley Pelton; Akarshana Arunkumar; Michael Borich, PT, DPT, PhD
Lead Author Name & Affiliation: Emma Funderburg, Neuroscience & Behavioral Biology, College of Arts & Sciences, Emory University
Abstract:
One early indicator of aging-related cognitive decline is reduced spatial navigation ability. This decline is typically observed in the increased utilization of person-centered, egocentric reference frames (ERFs) in older adults (OAs) relative to young adults (YAs). While prior literature has demonstrated effects of demographic factors (e.g., gender) on navigation performance, the influence of these factors on naturalistic navigation ability in virtual reality (VR) environments is unclear. Our central hypothesis is that lower navigational ability will be observed in OAs compared to YAs and also in women, and those individuals with left/mixed handedness, lower prior VR experience, higher VR-related sickness, lower self-reported navigation ability, and lower sleep quality.
To test this hypothesis, YAs (N = 15; 18-35 years) & OAs (N = 11; 60+ years) completed a computerized Y-maze task and navigation performance in a city-like VR environment (NavCity). Group differences in primary outcomes were assessed with independent parametric and non-parametric tests.
Only a significant effect of age was observed, as OAs exhibited decreased average speed in NavCity (p < 0.001) and increased ERF utilization in the Y-maze (p = 0.047). We hypothesize that the lack of significant associations with other analyzed demographic factors results from sample heterogeneity and VR familiarization trial usage. Future directions include looking at the neural correlates of aging-related changes in RF utilization and navigation performance.
7. Competition between landmarks is determined by their proximity to the goal
Authors: Estibaliz Herrera, Ph.D.1,2, Joe M. Austen2, Ph.D.3, Gonzalo P. Urcelay, Ph.D.3
1School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, GA, USA, 2CRaNE: Center for Research and Education in Navigation, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, 3School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, UK.
Abstract: When multiple landmarks can be used to locate a goal, attention resources can favor the most salient ones at the expense of others. This can lead to competition (overshadowing), which impacts memory. As a result, we can get lost. However, its determining factors are mostly unknown. Participants were trained to find a goal hidden in the center of a virtual environment relative to four distinct landmarks arranged in the shape of a cross. Critically, in Exp1 the landmarks were at different distances from the goal in groups Close, Medium and Far. Two “target landmarks” were placed at 50 and 70 virtual units across groups, and a Control Group was trained with the target landmarks only, to allow a comparison of the extent of competition. Goal location memory relying on each landmark was separately tested, and goal localization error was assessed. Of interest was their performance with the target landmarks. Results revealed that landmarks near the goal more effectively overshadowed landmarks far from it: when a target landmark was the closest of the four, test performance was good, but when it was relatively farther, performance was worse. A second experiment, with the number of training trials extended from 6 to 16, revealed similar results. Critically, results showed a gradient of OS depending on the overall goal- landmark proximities in the array: OS effects were strong in the Close Group, but attenuated in the Far Group where the target landmarks were relatively more proximal, revealing relative distance as a critical determinant of overshadowing.
8. Route navigation interacts with environment geometry in distance error estimation
Lead Author: Jaida Long, Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract: Current human research offers incomplete explanations for the impact of geometric information during navigation. Cognitive psychology theories indicate that geometric distinctiveness may help navigation. Rodent research contradicts this, since grid cell firing fields distort in the presence of geometrically distinct boundaries. Still, grid-cell based research of geometric information encoding in human navigation is sparse and typically focuses on single object memory. This study explores the role of route navigation (multiple objects in a fixed sequence) in the encoding of environment geometry. Participants completed an egocentric, virtual navigation task where they learned routes of six object locations in two square and two trapezoidal open-field environments. The presentation order of the environments was randomized. Participants’ spatial memory of the object locations and sequences was then tested by navigating the same environments from an egocentric perspective once again. In this testing, participants were instructed to place the objects in the learned locations and order as accurately as possible. Distance error estimation was defined by the Euclidean distance between participant object locations and true object locations. Analyses revealed that distance error estimation depended on an interaction between geometry and an object’s position in trapezoidal environments. Object distance error estimation was non-significantly better when in the broader half of the trapezoid compared to in the square. On the other hand, object distance error estimation was significantly worse when in the narrow half of the trapezoid compared to in the square. These results may offer insight into which mechanisms mediate whether geometric distinctiveness helps or harms route navigation. In the broader half of the trapezoid, the small amount of geometric distortion compared to geometric distinctiveness could aid navigation. In the narrow half of the trapezoid, the larger geometric distortion could overshadow any benefits of geometric distinctiveness, harming navigation. Such findings highlight the importance of investigating complex route navigation scenarios and contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms that mediate geometric information encoding in navigation.
9. Invisible Barriers in the Medial Temporal Lobe: Entorhinal and Perirhinal Context Dependence in Human Spatial Navigation
Lead Author: Omar Zeid, Memory, Affect, and Planning (MAP) Lab, Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract: For years, the behavior of grid cells in rodents has been observed during spatial navigation. Recently, BOLD signals with grid-like behavior were shown in humans via fMRI. Our lab had previously shown that BOLD activity in the right Entorhinal Cortex (ERC) exhibits a grid-like representation with 6-fold symmetry relative to the angle traversed while navigating a virtual space with no barriers (“Open Field”) and a representation with 4-fold symmetry when walls were added – creating a series of corridors (“Barrier”), showing that the same neural region can represent different spaces with different strategies.
We then tested whether the 4-fold signal is due to the visual perception of the walls or the conceptual knowledge that a wall cannot be traversed. To that end, we collected pilot fMRI whole-brain data using a similar experimental paradigm but with the Barrier condition replaced with one where the barriers were invisible. With both experimental conditions looking identical, the 6-fold symmetry was greatly reduced while the 4-fold symmetry increased in the Open Field condition. In addition to anatomical ERC masks like those used in the previous study, we identified a functional ROI in the perirhinal cortex (PRC) which showed a double dissociation of Open Field activity between subjects that were given the Open Field trials first compared to those that were given the Open Field trials last.
It is clear from these extant results that mechanisms in these neural systems may be more context-dependent than previously hypothesized – here modulated by stimuli presentation order and neuroanatomical subdivision.
10. Environment schema influences in strategic spatial navigation
Authors: Paulina Maxim1, Thackery I. Brown1
1School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract: Research has set out to test whether existing spatial knowledge can benefit novel learning in humans, and if there are similar neural characteristics during prospective planning and recall of memories related to existing spatial knowledge. The present study tested 19 healthy young-adult participants across two days in a virtual navigation task and used fMRI to examine complementary views of how the MTL and mPFC contribute to route planning and navigation. Participants trained on specific paths through six virtual towns, and after 24 hours were tested during fMRI on memory of these now-familiar routes (FR). They were then given novel goals and permitted to navigate to the goal using any strategy. Some trials were designed so that the optimal shortcut followed the same direction as the FR, while in others the optimal route required traveling backward relative to the FR direction. Behavioral analyses show participants follow closer to the optimal route for forward-shortcuts. But during backward-shortcut trials, when given a choice between shortcutting in a “conflicting” direction with the FR vs. traveling along the FR direction, participants show a significant bias toward more closely following the FR. Univariate and multivariate fMRI analyses revealed: 1) Functional differences in subdivisions of the mPFC, sometimes agreeing, but other times responding differently across various stages of navigation (e.g., planning vs. goal arrival), and differing in how they explain individual differences in navigation behavior. 2) Broad agreement between when and how the hippocampus and mPFC are engaged for task stages, represent environments, and track participant differences.
11. Curiosity, Memory, and the Place
Authors: Simin Nasiri1, Thackery Brown1
1School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract: The study presented here is an empirical exploration of the effects of building layouts on memory and motivation of their visitors. It does so by investigating the issue in three parts: first, the association between a spatial environment’s organization and curiosity, second the effect of spatial layout on memory, and third the correlation between spatial curiosity and spatial memory. The investigation utilizes an experimental method in which participants are placed in immersive virtual environments with head-mounted devices (HMD) and set an exploration task. The virtual environments are designed as homes, similar in area and program, that exhibit three distinct design strategies—a traditional compartmentalized plan, a fully open plan with minimum visual and physical barriers, and a Miesian semi-open plan with a mixed strategy of open but private space. The general hypothesis is that the semi-open plan strategy will generate greater curiosity, trigger increased exploration and lead to better cognitive mapping of the environment. Additional hypothesis is that the open plan will be associated with positive affect, in line with what is described in architectural literature as a sense of flow and connection. To test our hypothesis accuracy, participants’ behavioral data are collected during their exploration to capture their paths of movement, time taken to explore, and their attentional foci like eye gaze, direction, and pupil diameter as variables of curiosity. Their memory data come from post exploration questionnaire by asking participants to recall the layouts and tag environments they have experienced and attribute adjectives to them. The study reported here is a preliminary study using four participants quantitative measures that compare behavioral data and morphological properties of layout like visual information and Isovist, as well as qualitative data from the interviews that is aimed to further sharpen the hypotheses. Results indicate that the Miesian mix strategy semi-open plan causes more “distributed curiosity”, is more memorable, and as people described more livable. On the other hand, the compartmentalized plan that provides the lowest visual information with the lowest isovist, was the most confusing for participants, least interesting, and least memorable. In general, we can expect that different levels and layers of openness, effects different types of curiosity, which I have called them “compacted” and “distributed” curiosity, as well as different levels of memorability depending on the amount of visual information they have received and been able to map the environment cognitively. This research will contribute to understanding the way humans relate to environment in order to help a healthier, more interesting, and memorable environments design.
12. Aphantasia and its Effects on Spatial Memory and Navigation: A Case Study
Lead Author: Tolu Faromika, Clinical Psychology MA Student at York University, Toronto, Canada
Supervisor: Dr. Shayna Rosenbaum
Abstract: Aphantasia, characterized by the absence of voluntary visual imagery, presents a unique opportunity to understand the intricate relationship between visual imagery and spatial memory. This study examines the effects of aphantasia on spatial memory and navigation through an investigation of a single case, AF, who exhibits low visual imagery (aphantasia), severely deficient autobiographical memory (SDAM), impaired depth perception (stereoblindness), and face perception difficulties (prosopagnosia). We administered a comprehensive baPery of sensitive tests of memory for spatial relations and visuospatial features based on real-world environments experienced by AF and control participants, we aim to reveal contributions of visual imagery to different components of spatial memory. We hypothesize that, relative to controls, AF’s spatial representations of both recently learned and familiar environments will be less detailed and vivid but would retain coarse spatial details, allowing for accurate distance and direction estimation. The results will offer valuable insights into dissociable processes and mechanisms underlying real-world spatial memory representations, including potential compensatory strategies in the context of visual imagery deficits.
Authors: Nuri Jeong1, 2, Xiao Zheng1, 3, Victor P. Nguyen1 , Sherina R. Thomas1 , Caroline E. Gilpin1 , Matthew C. Goodson1 , Annabelle C. Singer1*
1Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
2Neuroscience Graduate Program, Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
3Bioinformatics Graduate Program, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
*Corresponding author. Email: asinger@gatech.edu
Abstract: Goal-directed navigation in a new environment requires quickly identifying and exploiting important locations. Identifying new goal locations depends on neural computations that rapidly represent locations and connect location information to key outcomes like food, however the mechanisms to trigger these computations at behaviorally relevant locations is not well understood. Here we show that inhibitory interneurons in hippocampal CA3 play a causal role in identifying and exploiting new food locations with decreases of inhibitory activity around goals enabling representations of goal locations and binding of these key locations to food outcomes. Inhibitory interneurons in CA3 drastically reduce firing on approach to and in goal locations while food deprived mice learn to find food. More prominent inhibitory decreases occurred on correct trials. Sparse optogenetic stimulation to prevent goal-related decreases in PV interneuron firing impaired learning of goal locations in a new environment and disrupted neural representations of goal locations. Disrupting goal-related decreases in PV interneuron activity impaired reactivation of new goal locations following receipt of food, a process that associates prior locations to food outcomes such that animals know where to seek food later. These results reveal that goal-selective decreases in inhibitory activity enable learning, representations, and outcome-associations of crucial locations.
14. Co-Presence, Cognitive Maps, And Synthetic Environments
Lead Author: Yasaman Gholami, Ph.D. Student, School of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract:
If, as Edward Tolman suggested several years ago, the influence of external stimuli on behavior is mediated by a broad cognitive map of their environment, does this map continue to influence individuals’ behavior and attitudes even when they enter a virtual setting? And, if so, what aspects of the environment constitute this map?
The study presented in the poster aimed to explore these questions by focusing on the impact of the physical environment on the sense of co-presence that individuals are able to develop within virtual settings. The exploratory study used a grounded theory approach collecting evidence from both qualitative and quantitative data. Employing a between-subject experimental design, participants were placed in physical spaces with varying levels of visual exposure and a synthetic environment.
Thematic analysis of interview data confirmed the three constructs of artificiality, spatiality, and transportation identified in the literature. It also provided in-depth spatial details for each construct and introduced two additional themes—characteristics of the behavior setting and situational awareness—which impact the sense of presence and co-presence in synthetic environments. The situational awareness of physical space was found to be influenced by levels of visual exposure. However, the perceived level of visual exposure did not consistently align with the actual visual exposure of the rooms, suggesting that individuals assess visual exposure based on the social character of the behavior settings based on the cognitive map they carried in their mind beyond the physical structure of the setting. Further studies need to explore other environmental aspects that impact the formation of the physical space cognitive map that individuals carry when transporting to a virtual setting.
15. Reference frame utilization as a potential marker of aging-related deficits in spatial navigation
Authors & Affiliations:
* denotes lead author
*Yasmine Bassil, BS1; Anisha Kanukolanu, BS2; Emily Cui, BS3; Emma Funderburg4; Ashley Pelton2; Akarshana Arunkumar2; Michael Borich, PT, DPT, PhD5
1Neuroscience Graduate Program, Emory University, 2B.S. in Neuroscience, College of Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, 3Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Emory University, 4B.S. in Neuroscience & Behavioral Biology, College of Arts & Science, Emory University, 5Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Emory University; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract:
With advancing age, older adults (OAs) report impaired spatial navigation, one of the earliest indicators of aging-related cognitive decline. Specifically, OAs demonstrate deficits in utilizing allocentric (world-centered) information and rely on egocentric (body-centered) cues during navigation, resulting in ‘reference frame (RF) bias’. While traditional navigational assessments have characterized aging-effects on RF bias, RF utilization during naturalistic, real-world-like navigation remains unclear. This study characterized interactions between RF bias utilizing a traditional Y-Maze task and navigation in a novel, city-like, virtual reality environment (“NavCity”), with an associated NavCity Allocentric Representation Assessment (“NARA”). We hypothesized that OAs with egocentric bias would exhibit greater deficits in navigation performance and allocentric RF formation, compared to OAs who primarily utilized allocentric RFs or younger adults (YAs).
To test this hypothesis, YAs (N = 12; 18-35 years) and OAs (N = 12; 60+ years) completed 3 exposures in NavCity, NARA, and the Y-Maze. Independent t-tests and chi-squared tests evaluated group differences.
Compared to YAs, OAs demonstrated higher mean completion times and distances traveled in NavCity (both p < .01) and lower NARA scores (p < .001) that were strongly correlated across groups (all p < .001). However, the rate of navigation improvement across exposures was similar between groups (p > .05). Additionally, OAs exhibited greater Y-Maze egocentric RF utilization, compared to YAs (χ2 = 14.96, p < .001).
Findings suggest that RF characterization may serve as a marker of aging-related navigational deficits. Next steps include recruiting additional participants to compute interactions between aging and RF groups.
16. Exploring the Influence of Architectural Elements on Navigational Heuristics
Lead Author: Yeinn Oh, Ph.D. Candidate, School of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract:
This pilot study investigates the impact of built environment layouts on human navigation. It delves into the heuristic processes that are triggered when individuals lack comprehensive spatial knowledge for pathfinding—a common occurrence in building navigation. The core premise is that specific environmental features shape the formation of navigational heuristics, thereby explaining why certain environments are more conducive to wayfinding.
Our methodology involved a series of experiments conducted in a virtual environment. Initially, we utilized a circular maze and observed how individuals navigated their way out. We discovered that participants leveraged the space’s geometric properties for navigation, even in the absence of complete spatial knowledge. However, this strategy was highly dependent on the environment, prompting us to extend our research to building structures. Upon transitioning from mazes to buildings, we uncovered intriguing heuristics. For instance, individuals tended to wander randomly until they encountered a familiar space. Our future research aims to uncover more such heuristics.
The objective of this study is to unearth specific findings about the heuristics employed in wayfinding and the environmental features that either facilitate or impede the development of these heuristics. Anticipated outcomes include practical guidelines for designing complex public buildings and developing base navigation behavior for agents in simulation models. This will allow us to examine how the environment influences behavior. Additionally, we expect to gain theoretical insights into the nature of environmental cognitive mapping.