HOW WE NAVIGATE IN SPACE

Cognitive map (Tollman, 1948)

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014 John O’Keefe, May-Britt and Edvard I. Moser - "for their discoveries of

cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain„

So far what we know is mostly based on animal experiments Place cells (O’Keefe & Dostrovsky, 1971) Grid cells (Hafting, Fyhn, Molden, M. B. Moser & E. Moser, 2005) Head direction cells (Taube, Muller, Ranck, 1990)

WINDOWS INTO THE BRAIN

Several methods to measure neurak activity directly … ECoG Deep brain electrodes EEG MEG

And indirectly fMRI PET, SPECT NIRS

NECESSITY OF TOOLS

Measure brain activity during Active motion In a 3 dimensional space

Recent advancement Portable EEG devices CAVE and HMD systems (Oculus Rift) Motion tracking Online realistic graphical rendering Communication between neuroscientists and

computer scientists

HOW CAN WE SET UP AN EXPERIMENT

T-maze experiment Do they prefer one alley? Are the fruits associated with one alley?

Talk Define the experiment Define the terms Define the key features

IMPLEMENTATION

VirCA + Experiment Controller Experiments presented in Collaborative virtual environment

Following methodology of psychological experiments Experiment description provided in XML language

Standard, general descriptor Schema support: validate Experiment descriptor schemantically

Provide features for analysis and synchronization Logging Triggering via Parallel Port Rewarding system

METHODOLOGYExperiment Definition part and schedule part Scene description

State of virtual environment for experiment

Stimuli Including visual objects Complete visual impact

Events Including stimuli Conditions and effects of stimuli

Scenario Schedule of events Conditions

time or user initiative (key press)

T-Maze Experiment Descriptor Movements depends on user choice

LET’S SEE HOW THAT WORKS !