title: Medial temporal lobe roles in human path integration.
abstract: Path integration is a process in which observers derive their location by integrating self-motion signals along their locomotion trajectory. Although the medial temporal lobe (MTL) is thought to take part in path integration, the scope of its role for path integration remains unclear. To address this issue, we administered a variety of tasks involving path integration and other related processes to a group of neurosurgical patients whose MTL was unilaterally resected as therapy for epilepsy. These patients were unimpaired relative to neurologically intact controls in many tasks that required integration of various kinds of sensory self-motion information. However, the same patients (especially those who had lesions in the right hemisphere) walked farther than the controls when attempting to walk without vision to a previewed target. Importantly, this task was unique in our test battery in that it allowed participants to form a mental representation of the target location and anticipate their upcoming walking trajectory before they began moving. Thus, these results put forth a new idea that the role of MTL structures for human path integration may stem from their participation in predicting the consequences of one's locomotor actions. The strengths of this new theoretical viewpoint are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America; Department of Psychology, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Naohide
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America; School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Philbeck
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America; Department of Aging and Geriatric Research, Cognitive Aging and Memory Clinical Translational Research Program, Institute on Aging, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Adam J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Woods
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Gajewski
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America; Office of Basic & Applied Research, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Springfield, Virginia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Joeanna C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Arthur
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Samuel J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Potolicchio
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lucien
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Caputy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology* / Q000601:surgery; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*