Turns around periodic spatial boundaries facilitate increasing event segmentation over time.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Comparative Cognition

Background:

• Event segmentation is a key neurocognitive process linking perception and episodic memory.
• Existing research primarily focuses on humans, overlooking evolutionarily conserved mechanisms in event cognition across species.
• Rat research on grid-cell fragmentation in corridor mazes inspired a cross-species approach.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate event segmentation in a manner applicable to both humans and non-human animals.
• To explore how environmental boundaries influence event segmentation.
• To understand the relationship between event segmentation, pattern separation, and episodic-like memory formation.

Main Methods:

• Participants viewed virtual mazes from a first-person perspective and indicated event boundaries.
• Two experiments utilized a corridor maze and other maze structures, with stimuli viewed twice.
• Behavioral responses of event segmentation were recorded and analyzed in relation to environmental features.

Main Results:

• Participants exhibited increased event segmentation at turns compared to straight corridors.
• Segmentation was concentrated in discrete moments surrounding turns.
• Corridor maze boundaries enhanced segmentation both within and across repeated viewings.

Conclusions:

• Event segmentation can be driven by the recognition of repeating activity patterns.
• Recognized activity patterns gain significance with experience, linking event segmentation to pattern separation.
• Findings highlight a conserved mechanism relevant to episodic-like memory formation across diverse species.