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Direct Motor Pathways

Direct Motor Pathways

The direct motor pathways, also known as the pyramidal tracts, are a group of neural pathways that originate in the brain and descend through the spinal cord. They control the voluntary movement of the body. There are two major direct motor pathways: the corticospinal and the corticobulbar tracts.
The corticospinal tract is responsible for the voluntary movement of the limbs and trunk. It originates in the cerebral cortex of the brain and descends through the cerebrum's internal capsule and the...

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

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Motor transfer from map ocular exploration to locomotion during spatial navigation from memory.

Alixia Demichelis¹, Gérard Olivier, Alain Berthoz

¹Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, LIRCES, EA 3159, 98 bd Edouard Herriot, BP 3209, 06204, Nice Cedex 3, France. alixia.demichelis@unice.fr

Experimental Brain Research

|December 11, 2012

Summary

Oculomotor navigation, or eye movements on a map, can influence locomotor memory. This study shows how visual-motor memory from eye tracking aids spatial navigation recall.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Human Spatial Navigation
Visuomotor Integration

Background:

Spatial navigation relies on egocentric (route-based) or allocentric (map-based) strategies.
The brain's ability to use prior visual-motor experiences for new navigation tasks is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if oculomotor navigation on a map can serve as a template for subsequent locomotor memory tasks.
To explore the influence of eye movement characteristics on spatial recall performance.

Main Methods:

Participants learned a path on a map using sequential horizontal and vertical eye movements.
Subjects then recalled the learned path by walking on a 'magic carpet' system.
Performance was analyzed based on the anisotropy of ocular movements (horizontal vs. vertical).

Main Results:

The efficiency of horizontal eye movements, compared to vertical ones, significantly impacted navigation performance, particularly during directional changes.
Participants' ability to recall the path on the magic carpet was linked to their prior eye movements on the map.
Data suggest a transfer of visuo-motor memory from ocular exploration to locomotor execution.

Conclusions:

Visuo-motor memory derived from oculomotor exploration of a map can be repurposed for locomotor spatial navigation.
The brain appears to utilize a template of past eye movements to guide physical navigation, highlighting the integration of sensory and motor systems in spatial memory.