Knowing Where and Getting There: A Human Navigation Network

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1998-05, Vol.280 (5365), p.921-924
• Main Authors: Maguire, Eleanor A., Burgess, Neil, Donnett, James G., Richard S. J. Frackowiak, Frith, Christopher D., O'Keefe, John
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accuracy; Anatomical correlates of behavior; Behavioral neuroscience; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Brain Mapping; Caudate nucleus; Caudate Nucleus - blood supply; Caudate Nucleus - diagnostic imaging; Caudate Nucleus - physiology; Coding; Cognitive Mapping; Computer Simulation; Correlations; Cues; Environment; Frontal Lobe - blood supply; Frontal Lobe - diagnostic imaging; Frontal Lobe - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hippocampus; Hippocampus - blood supply; Hippocampus - diagnostic imaging; Hippocampus - physiology; Humans; Localization (Brain function); Localization of functions; Male; Memory; Municipalities; Navigation; Networks; Neural Pathways; Neurology; Neurons; Orientation; Parietal Lobe - blood supply; Parietal Lobe - diagnostic imaging; Parietal Lobe - physiology; PET scanners; Physiological aspects; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor Performance; Regional Blood Flow; Space Perception; Tomography, Emission-Computed; Trails; Virtual reality
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.280.5365.921

The neural basis of navigation by humans was investigated with functional neuroimaging of brain activity during navigation in a familiar, yet complex virtual reality town. Activation of the right hippocampus was strongly associated with knowing accurately where places were located and navigating accurately between them. Getting to those places quickly was strongly associated with activation of the right caudate nucleus. These two right-side brain structures function in the context of associated activity in right inferior parietal and bilateral medial parietal regions that support egocentric movement through the virtual town, and activity in other left-side regions (hippocampus, frontal cortex) probably involved in nonspatial aspects of navigation. These findings outline a network of brain areas that support navigation in humans and link the functions of these regions to physiological observations in other mammals.