Anisotropy of Human Horizontal and Vertical Navigation in Real Space: Behavioral and PET Correlates

In conclusion, these data indicate a functional anisotropy of human 3D-navigation in favor of the horizontal plane. There are common brain areas for both forms of navigation (hippocampus) as well as unique areas such as the retrosplenial cortex, visual cortex (horizontal navigation), flocculus, and vestibular multisensory cortex (vertical navigation). Visually guided landmark recognition seems to be more important for horizontal navigation, while distance estimation based on vestibular input might be more relevant for vertical navigation.

Source: Cerebral Cortex - October 16, 2016 Category: Neurology Authors: Zwergal, A., Schöberl, F., Xiong, G., Pradhan, C., Covic, A., Werner, P., Trapp, C., Bartenstein, P., la Fougere, C., Jahn, K., Dieterich, M., Brandt, T. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research