Effects of noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation on spatial memory in virtual reality

Spatial memory and navigation are foundational cognitive functions intricately tied to the hippocampal and striatal neural circuits. These regions integrate multisensory inputs from the environment, with the vestibular system exerting a particularly strong influence on visuospatial processing. While prior work has explored how Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) can enhance spatial cognition in individuals with vestibular disorders, limited research has focused on its potentially beneficial effects in those without vestibular disorders. To address this gap, we present a study using a novel experimental paradigm that combines noisy GVS (nGVS) with virtual reality (VR) to systematically examine the impact of vestibular stimulation on spatial learning and memory in healthy adults. Our findings (n=32) suggest that nGVS can significantly improve spatial memory performance, facilitating learning and recollection compared to the without-nGVS condition. Unlike previous screen-based studies, our work uniquely integrates nGVS with an ecologically valid scenario in VR, with study results indicating nGVS as a potential modifier of human spatial memory.