Even in our highly interconnected modern world, geographic factors play an important role in human social connections. Similarly, social relationships influence how and where we travel, and how we think about our spatial world. Here, we review the growing body of neuroscience research that is revealing multiple interactions between social and spatial processes in both humans and non-human animals. We review research on the cognitive and neural representation of spatial and social information, and highlight recent findings suggesting that underlying mechanisms might be common to both. We discuss how spatial factors can influence social behaviour, and how social concepts modify representations of space. In so doing, this review elucidates not only how neural representations of social and spatial information interact but also similarities in how the brain represents and operates on analogous information about its social and spatial surroundings.This article is part of the theme issue \'The spatial-social interface: a theoretical and empirical integration\'.

Animal localization and trajectory tracking are of great value for the study of brain spatial cognition and navigation neural mechanisms. However, traditional optical lens video positioning techniques are limited in their scope due to factors such as camera perspective. For pigeons with excellent spatial cognition and navigation abilities, based on the beacon positioning technology, a three-dimensional (3D) trajectory positioning and tracking method suitable for large indoor spaces was proposed, and the corresponding positioning principle and hardware structure were provided. The results of in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that the system could achieve centimeter-level positioning and trajectory tracking of pigeons in a space of 360 cm × 200 cm × 245 cm. Compared with traditional optical lens video positioning techniques, this system has the advantages of large space, high precision, and high response speed. It not only helps to study the neural mechanisms of pigeon 3D spatial cognition and navigation, but also has high reference value for trajectory tracking of other animals.
动物定位与轨迹追踪对于大脑空间认知和导航神经机制研究具有重要价值，但是传统光学镜头视频定位技术受摄像头视角范围等因素的影响，定位与轨迹追踪的范围有限。针对具有卓越空间认知和导航能力的鸽子，基于灯塔定位技术，提出了一种适用于室内大空间的三维轨迹定位与追踪方法，并给出了相应的定位原理与硬件组成。离体和在体实验研究结果表明，该系统可以在长 × 宽 × 高为 360 cm × 200 cm × 245 cm 空间中对鸽子实现误差厘米级的定位与轨迹追踪。与传统光学镜头视频定位技术相比，该系统具有大空间、高精度、高响应优点，不仅有助于鸽子三维空间认知与导航神经机制的研究，而且对于其他动物的轨迹追踪也具有较高参考价值。.

Spatial information and dynamic locomotor behaviours are equally important for achieving locomotor goals during spatial navigation. However, it remains unclear how spatial and locomotor information is integrated during the processing of self-initiated spatial navigation. Anatomically, the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) has reciprocal connections with brain regions related to spatial processing, including the hippocampus and para-hippocampus, and also receives inputs from the secondary motor cortex. In addition, RSC is functionally associated with allocentric and egocentric spatial targets and head-turning. So, RSC may be a critical region for integrating spatial and locomotor information. In this study, we first examined the role of RSC in spatial navigation using the Morris water maze and found that mice with inactivated RSC took a longer time and distance to reach their destination. Then, by imaging neuronal activity in freely behaving mice within two open fields of different sizes, we identified a large proportion of border cells, head-turning cells and locomotor speed cells in the superficial layer of RSC. Interestingly, some RSC neurons exhibited conjunctive coding for both spatial and locomotor signals. Furthermore, these conjunctive neurons showed higher prediction accuracy compared with simple spatial or locomotor neurons in special navigator scenes using the border, turning and positive-speed conjunctive cells. Our study reveals that the RSC is an important conjunctive brain region that processes spatial and locomotor information during spatial navigation. KEY POINTS: Retrosplenial cortex (RSC) is indispensable during spatial navigation, which was displayed by the longer time and distance of mice to reach their destination after the inactivation of RSC in a water maze. The superficial layer of RSC has a larger population of spatial-related border cells, and locomotion-related head orientation and speed cells; however, it has few place cells in two-dimensional spatial arenas. Some RSC neurons exhibited conjunctive coding for both spatial and locomotor signals, and the conjunctive neurons showed higher prediction accuracy compared with simple spatial or locomotor neurons in special navigation scenes. Our study reveals that the RSC is an important conjunctive brain region that processes both spatial and locomotor information during spatial navigation.

Egocentric neural representations of environmental features, such as edges and vertices, are important for constructing a geometrically detailed egocentric cognitive map for goal-directed navigation and episodic memory. While egocentric neural representations of edges like egocentric boundary/border cells exist, those that selectively represent vertices egocentrically are yet unknown. Here we report that granular retrosplenial cortex (RSC) neurons in male mice generate spatial receptive fields exclusively near the vertices of environmental geometries during free exploration, termed vertex cells. Their spatial receptive fields occurred at a specific orientation and distance relative to the heading direction of mice, indicating egocentric vector coding of vertex. Removing physical boundaries defining the environmental geometry abolished the egocentric vector coding of vertex, and goal-directed navigation strengthened the egocentric vector coding at the goal-located vertex. Our findings suggest that egocentric vector coding of vertex by granular RSC neurons helps construct an egocentric cognitive map that guides goal-directed navigation.

The entorhinal cortex represents allocentric spatial geometry and egocentric speed and heading information required for spatial navigation. However, it remains unclear whether it contributes to the prediction of an animal\'s future location. We discovered grid cells in the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) that have grid fields representing future locations during goal-directed behavior. These predictive grid cells represented prospective spatial information by shifting their grid fields against the direction of travel. Predictive grid cells discharged at the trough phases of the hippocampal CA1 theta oscillation and, together with other types of grid cells, organized sequences of the trajectory from the current to future positions across each theta cycle. Our results suggest that the MEC provides a predictive map that supports forward planning in spatial navigation.

Animal groups need to achieve and maintain consensus to minimize conflict among individuals and prevent group fragmentation. An excellent example of a consensus challenge is cooperative transport, where multiple individuals cooperate to move a large item together. This behaviour, regularly displayed by ants and humans only, requires individuals to agree on which direction to move in. Unlike humans, ants cannot use verbal communication but most likely rely on private information and/or mechanical forces sensed through the carried item to coordinate their behaviour. Here, we investigated how groups of weaver ants achieve consensus during cooperative transport using a tethered-object protocol, where ants had to transport a prey item that was tethered in place with a thin string. This protocol allows the decoupling of the movement of informed ants from that of uninformed individuals. We showed that weaver ants pool together the opinions of all group members to increase their navigational accuracy. We confirmed this result using a symmetry-breaking task, in which we challenged ants with navigating an open-ended corridor. Weaver ants are the first reported ant species to use a \'wisdom-of-the-crowd\' strategy for cooperative transport, demonstrating that consensus mechanisms may differ according to the ecology of each species.

Maps have been invaluable navigation aids for millennia and thus have been critical for human survival. The increasing popularity of and high dependence on digital, location-aware assistive navigation technology, however, has been shown to divert our attention from the environment and to negatively influence innate spatial abilities. To mitigate this, neuroadaptive mobile geographic information displays (namGIDs) are proposed that respond in real-time to navigators\' cognitive task demands and wayfinder\'s situated visuo-spatial attention needs. In doing so, namGIDs may not only help navigators maintain navigation efficiency but more importantly, also continuously scaffold spatial learning. To do this, the proposed navigation assistance must strike the appropriate balance between welcomed mobility efficiency gains while limiting human spatial deskilling. Leveraging neuroadaptive cartography, we can ensure to remain effective navigators, empowered to explore the world with confidence.

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence suggests that impairments of spatial navigation, orientation and memory may represent one of the earliest features Alzheimer\'s disease (AD), preceding deficits in other cognitive domains. This is consistent with early pathological tau and amyloid deposition in temporal and parietal brain regions implicated in spatial processing. However, it remains unclear which metrics and spatial behaviours can i) differentiate high-risk, preclinical or prodromal AD individuals, and ii) may be captured with digital devices suitable for future deployment at scale in clinical practice. We addressed this knowledge gap with a systematic review.
METHODS: Two databases (PubMed/Web of Science) were searched following PRISMA guidelines. Medical subheading keywords for different dementia types were combined with prodromal, preclinical and genetic or disorder risk factor terms. We included studies published until October 2022 that collected digital or physical objective measures of egocentric or allocentric processing (wayfinding, orientation, reference frame translation, route learning or path integration). We excluded diagnoses of other conditions or dementia, cross-sectional MCI studies without biomarkers, young adults, case studies, interventional studies or studies without appropriate controls.
RESULTS: 25 articles were included from 316 identified abstracts. None investigated non-AD dementias. 131 metrics were extracted from 38 different tasks, of which 31 where digital (81%). 82 metrics showed differentiation of predementia AD groups (63%). We harmonised these into 21 distinct summary metrics covering four domains of active or passively tracked spatial behaviours. Across all domains, metrics capturing decreased navigation efficiency (i.e. distance or time required to find goals) and accuracy (i.e. distance or angle from goal) were most frequently reported, but egocentric better differentiated prodromal than preclinical groups. Metrics for path integration and passive tracking of everyday GPS data were promising but relatively under-explored.
CONCLUSIONS: For future clinical use, spatial tests will require standardisation and validation against established markers of disease. These review data will inform the selection of digital tools to assess spatial behaviours in at-risk, preclinical and prodromal AD populations as part of the EDoN Initiative.

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We examined the human ability to encode and utilize local and global uncertainty information during a navigational task. Participants were tasked with navigating a virtual maze in which wall locations were obscured. Local cues and a global direction provided guidance. The validities of the global and local cues were separately and jointly varied across the two experiments. The results demonstrated that participants effectively utilized both global and local cues for navigation with a stronger reliance on local cues and a heightened precision in estimating their reliability. Our findings suggest that the representation of uncertainty for proximate events can be dissociated from that of distal events. Furthermore, humans effectively integrate both forms of information when making decisions during navigation tasks. This research advances our understanding of uncertainty processing and its implications for decision making in complex environments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).