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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain
Published on: October 13, 2023
Maintaining coherence of dynamic objects requires coordination of neural systems extended from anterior frontal to
Toshihide Imaruoka1, Jun Saiki, Satoru Miyauchi
1PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi.
Abstract:
Object representation in visual working memory enables humans to perceive a consistent visual world and must satisfy two attributes: coherence and dynamic updating. The present study measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the multiple object permanence tracking (MOPT) task, which requires observers to process simultaneously both coherence maintenance and dynamic updating of objects. Whole brain analysis revealed anterior and ventral parts of frontal area and dorsal frontoparietal activation during both object-moving and object-stationary conditions. Subsequent region-of-interest analyses in the anterior/ventral frontal and the dorsal frontoparietal regions revealed that these two systems engage the two different cognitive processes involved in the MOPT task, with coherency maintenance processed in the anterior/ventral frontal areas and spatial processing in the dorsal frontoparietal network. These results suggest that cooperation between these two systems underpins object representations in visual working memory.
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