A Framework for Sensory-to-Memory Weighting During Navigation

Navigation operates on the weighting of different sources of information to guide path selection. Although navigational strategies are commonly categorized as either sensory-driven or memory-based, real-world navigation typically involves dynamic interactions between immediate sensory information and stored spatial knowledge. Here, we propose a theoretical framework that conceptualizes navigation along a dynamic continuum between sensory and memory reliance, with working memory serving as the mediator in this process. Bats provide a powerful system to explore this sensory-to-memory continuum, given their use of vision, echolocation, and memory. Through active modulation of sonar signal parameters, bats adjust their sampling of environmental stimuli with respect to task demands and environmental contexts, providing a quantifiable measure of sensory acquisition. We surveyed the literature on bat sensing and navigation in the context of our framework and propose that navigational strategies encompass a fluid continuum whereby the relative weighting of sensory signals and spatial memory dynamically shifts with task demands, environmental context, learned experiences, and species-specific adaptations. These observations provide a foundation for a sensory-to-memory framework that may help guide investigations into bat navigation dynamics. We present this as a working model intended for refinement through future empirical testing across diverse bat species and potentially other taxa.