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Backtracking during navigation is correlated with enhanced anterior cingulate activity and suppression of alpha oscillations and the ‘default-mode’ network

Javadi, Amir-Homayoun; Patai, Eva Zita; Marin-Garcia, Eugenia; Margois, Aaron; Tan, Heng-Ru M.; Kumaran, Dharshan; Nardini, Marko; Penny, Will; Duzel, Emrah; Dayan, Peter; Spiers, Hugo J.

Backtracking during navigation is correlated with enhanced anterior cingulate activity and suppression of alpha oscillations and the ‘default-mode’ network Thumbnail


Authors

Amir-Homayoun Javadi

Eva Zita Patai

Eugenia Marin-Garcia

Aaron Margois

Heng-Ru M. Tan

Dharshan Kumaran

Will Penny

Emrah Duzel

Peter Dayan

Hugo J. Spiers



Abstract

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.

Citation

Javadi, A., Patai, E. Z., Marin-Garcia, E., Margois, A., Tan, H. M., Kumaran, D., …Spiers, H. J. (2019). Backtracking during navigation is correlated with enhanced anterior cingulate activity and suppression of alpha oscillations and the ‘default-mode’ network. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286(1908), Article 20191016. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1016

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 8, 2019
Online Publication Date Jul 31, 2019
Publication Date Jul 31, 2019
Deposit Date Aug 6, 2019
Publicly Available Date Aug 7, 2019
Journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Print ISSN 0962-8452
Electronic ISSN 1471-2954
Publisher The Royal Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 286
Issue 1908
Article Number 20191016
DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1016
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1296486

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