Retinotopic memory is more precise than spatiotopic memory
Name
Golomb-2011-Retinotopic memory is more precise than spatiotopic memory.pdf
Size
759.83 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
adada69213366a45c18a15640c5ea97c
Author(s)
Golomb, Julie Deanne
Kanwisher, Nancy
Date Issued
January 2012
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Citation
Golomb, J. D., and N. Kanwisher. “Retinotopic Memory Is More Precise Than Spatiotopic Memory.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109.5 (2012): 1796–1801.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Successful visually guided behavior requires information about spatiotopic (i.e., world-centered) locations, but how accurately is this information actually derived from initial retinotopic (i.e., eye-centered) visual input? We conducted a spatial working memory task in which subjects remembered a cued location in spatiotopic or retinotopic coordinates while making guided eye movements during the memory delay. Surprisingly, after a saccade, subjects were significantly more accurate and precise at reporting retinotopic locations than spatiotopic locations. This difference grew with each eye movement, such that spatiotopic memory continued to deteriorate, whereas retinotopic memory did not accumulate error. The loss in spatiotopic fidelity is therefore not a generic consequence of eye movements, but a direct result of converting visual information from native retinotopic coordinates. Thus, despite our conscious experience of an effortlessly stable spatiotopic world and our lifetime of practice with spatiotopic tasks, memory is actually more reliable in raw retinotopic coordinates than in ecologically relevant spatiotopic coordinates.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1113168109
