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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 19, 2025

Where You Cut Matters: A Dissection and Analysis Guide for the Spatial Orientation of the Mouse Retina from Ocular Landmarks

Where You Cut Matters: A Dissection and Analysis Guide for the Spatial Orientation of the Mouse Retina from Ocular Landmarks

Published on: August 4, 2018

Gravitational and retinal reference frames shape spatial memory.

Raffaele Tucciarelli¹, Elisa R Ferrè¹, Elena Amoruso¹

¹Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. General

|August 10, 2023

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Spatial judgments are biased toward quadrant centers. This study reveals that both gravitational and retinal reference frames influence spatial perception, with neither dominating entirely.

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Last Updated: Jul 19, 2025

Where You Cut Matters: A Dissection and Analysis Guide for the Spatial Orientation of the Mouse Retina from Ocular Landmarks

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Assessing Binocular Central Visual Field and Binocular Eye Movements in a Dichoptic Viewing Condition

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Published on: July 21, 2020

Area of Science:

Cognitive psychology
Neuroscience
Human spatial orientation

Background:

Human spatial judgments exhibit biases, particularly toward the center of imaginary quadrants.
These biases may stem from visual system precision in retinotopic frames or internal gravity representations.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the interplay between gravitational and retinotopic reference frames in spatial memory recall.
To quantify the relative contributions of these reference frames to spatial categorization.

Main Methods:

Participants recalled dot locations within a circle under upright and head-tilted (30° left) conditions.
A novel "imaging" procedure mapped spatial prototypes, analyzing prototype map rotations to assess reference frame contributions.

Main Results:

Spatial categorization is influenced by a combination of reference frames.
Both gravitational and retinal factors demonstrably contribute to spatial perception.

Conclusions:

Human spatial perception is not solely reliant on a single reference frame.
Both gravity and retinal orientation play significant roles in how we represent and recall spatial information.