Sources of path integration error in young and aging humans
Name
s41467-020-15805-9.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
1.81 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
6494b69a1bd357a6f6d1b9404b8c9e17
Author(s)
Stangl, Matthias
Kanitscheider, Ingmar
Riemer, Martin
Fiete, Ila
Wolbers, Thomas
Date Issued
2020
Journal
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Path integration plays a vital role in navigation: it enables the continuous tracking of one's position in space by integrating self-motion cues. Path integration abilities vary widely across individuals, and tend to deteriorate in old age. The specific causes of path integration errors, however, remain poorly characterized. Here, we combine tests of path integration performance in participants of different ages with an analysis based on the Langevin equation for diffusive dynamics, which allows us to decompose errors into distinct causes that can corrupt path integration computations. We show that, across age groups, the dominant error source is unbiased noise that accumulates with travel distance not elapsed time, suggesting that the noise originates in the velocity input rather than within the integrator. Age-related declines are primarily traced to a growth in this noise. These findings shed light on the contributors to path integration error and the mechanisms underlying age-related navigational deficits.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/S41467-020-15805-9
