Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.
School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
Proc Biol Sci. 2019 Aug 14;286(1908):20191016. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1016. Epub 2019 Jul 31.
Successful navigation can require realizing the current path choice was a mistake and the best strategy is to retreat along the recent path: 'back-track'. Despite the wealth of studies on the neural correlates of navigation little is known about backtracking. To explore the neural underpinnings of backtracking we tested humans during functional magnetic resonance imaging on their ability to navigate to a set of goal locations in a virtual desert island riven by lava which constrained the paths that could be taken. We found that on a subset of trials, participants spontaneously chose to backtrack and that the majority of these choices were optimal. During backtracking, activity increased in frontal regions and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, while activity was suppressed in regions associated with the core default-mode network. Using the same task, magnetoencephalography and a separate group of participants, we found that power in the alpha band was significantly decreased immediately prior to such backtracking events. These results highlight the importance for navigation of brain networks previously identified in processing internally-generated errors and that such error-detection responses may involve shifting the brain from default-mode states to aid successful spatial orientation.
成功的导航可能需要意识到当前的路径选择是错误的，最佳策略是沿着最近的路径返回：“回溯”。尽管有大量关于导航神经相关性的研究，但对于回溯知之甚少。为了探索回溯的神经基础，我们在功能磁共振成像中测试了人类在虚拟熔岩岛的导航能力，熔岩岛限制了可走的路径。我们发现，在一小部分试验中，参与者会自发地选择回溯，而且大多数选择是最优的。回溯时，额区和背侧前扣带皮层的活动增加，而与核心默认模式网络相关的区域的活动受到抑制。使用相同的任务、脑磁图和另一组参与者，我们发现，在这些回溯事件之前，alpha 波段的功率显著降低。这些结果强调了对于导航来说，大脑网络的重要性，这些网络以前在处理内部产生的错误中被发现，而这种错误检测反应可能涉及将大脑从默认模式状态转移，以帮助成功的空间定位。
