Unpacking the navigation toolbox: insights from comparative cognition

Jeffery, K. J. , Cheng, K., Newcombe, N. S., Bingman, V. P. and Menzel, R. (2024) Unpacking the navigation toolbox: insights from comparative cognition. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences, 291(2016), 20231304. (doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1304) (PMID:38320615) (PMCID:PMC10846957)

Abstract

The study of navigation is informed by ethological data from many species, laboratory investigation at behavioural and neurobiological levels, and computational modelling. However, the data are often species-specific, making it challenging to develop general models of how biology supports behaviour. Wiener et al. outlined a framework for organizing the results across taxa, called the ‘navigation toolbox’ (Wiener et al. In Animal thinking: contemporary issues in comparative cognition (eds R Menzel, J Fischer), pp. 51–76). This framework proposes that spatial cognition is a hierarchical process in which sensory inputs at the lowest level are successively combined into ever-more complex representations, culminating in a metric or quasi-metric internal model of the world (cognitive map). Some animals, notably humans, also use symbolic representations to produce an external representation, such as a verbal description, signpost or map that allows communication of spatial information or instructions between individuals. Recently, new discoveries have extended our understanding of how spatial representations are constructed, highlighting that the hierarchical relationships are bidirectional, with higher levels feeding back to influence lower levels. In the light of these new developments, we revisit the navigation toolbox, elaborate it and incorporate new findings. The toolbox provides a common framework within which the results from different taxa can be described and compared, yielding a more detailed, mechanistic and generalized understanding of navigation.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: K.C.'s research has been partially supported by AUSMURIB000001 associated with ONR MURI grant N00014-19-1-2571, and by an Australian Research Council grant (DP200102337). N.S.N's research has been partially supported by grants from the National Science Foundation EHR 1660996 and 2300937.
• Keywords: Route, cognitive map, vector, wayfinding, spatial cognition, navigation.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Jeffery, Professor Kate

Creator Roles

Jeffery, K. J.: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing

• Authors: Jeffery, K. J., Cheng, K., Newcombe, N. S., Bingman, V. P., and Menzel, R.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
• Journal Name: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences
• Publisher: The Royal Society
• ISSN: 0962-8452
• ISSN (Online): 1471-2954
• Published Online: 07 February 2024
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2024 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences 291(2016): 20231304
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License