A virtual reality platform for memory evaluation: Assessing effects of spatial strategies

Human spatial memories are usually evaluated using computer screens instead of real arenas or landscapes where subjects could move voluntarily and use allocentric cues to guide their behavior. A possible approach to fill this gap is the adoption of virtual reality, which provides the opportunity to create spatial memory tasks closer to real-life experience. Here we present and evaluate a new software to create experiments using this technology. Specifically, we have developed a spatial memory task that is carried out in a computer-assisted virtual environment where participants walk around a virtual arena using a joystick. This spatial memory task provides an immersive environment where the spatial component is constantly present without the use of virtual reality goggles. The design is similar to that of tasks used for animal studies, allowing a direct comparison across species. We found that only participants who reported using spatial cues to guide their behavior showed significant learning and performed significantly better during a memory test. This tool allows evaluation of human spatial memory in an ecological environment and will be useful to develop a wide range of other tasks to assess spatial cognition.