Teixeira De Almeida, M., Faulmann, I., Seeber, M., Gschwend, K., Maurer, R., & Burra, N. 2023. Electrophysiological correlates of distance and direction processing during cognitive map retrieval: A source analysis. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 17, 42.

“The aim of our study was to understand the role played by theta waves in the cognitive map, especially how the cognitive map is recalled and how the manipulation of distances and directions within the cognitive map occurs. Our task taps into several cognitive abilities such as working memory, mental imagery, recall of long-term memories, and spatial orientation. This study seems to reveal the role of theta waves as a marker of direction processing in specific brain regions when manipulating spatial information, such as the retrosplenial cortex and the temporal poles. Increases of TMA in frontal, parahippocampal, temporal, and temporal pole regions seem to be markers of working memory and recall of the cognitive map. Therefore, our CMRT could be useful to test for direction difficulties in patients, as it is in line with the previous work of Descloux and Maurer (2018). Our study also shows that there are two distinct parts when testing the cognitive map: recall and manipulation of spatial information. This is often seen as two similar processes in literature, but our study demonstrates that these processes might be different, with theta waves from different brain regions contributing to either recall or manipulation and should be considered in further studies.

Our study has limitations. First, we were focused on theta frequencies, mainly due to the involvement of theta waves in spatial navigation. Further investigations could also include other frequencies to determine their role in the spatial navigation of familiar environments. However, at a technical level, the implementation of individual MRI would increase the accuracy of source localization, especially in small brain regions, such as the retrosplenial cortex. Finally, it would also be important to assess the role of gender differences in the electrophysiological activation of familiar environments, as shown by Castillo et al. (2021).”

Teixeira De Almeida, M., Faulmann, I., Seeber, M., Gschwend, K., Maurer, R., & Burra, N. 2023. Electrophysiological correlates of distance and direction processing during cognitive map retrieval: A source analysis. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 17, 42.