Objective
In everyday life we navigate through known and unknown spatial environments. We have to learn how to find our way back, make a detour around a barrier or find a shortcut. The ability to remember the spatial surroundings and to communicate about space has been crucial to human adaptation and survival. The proposed research project investigates the development of spatial skills, the underlying neural correlates of spatial representations and spatial wayfinding mechanisms, spatial language and their linkage. Recent comparative studies have shown that human infants early in their cognitive development share a spatial memory strategy with all non-human great apes. This strategy preference for spatial cues in young human infants changes during the first years in childhood into a preference for a feature based strategy. Recent functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies have shown the enormous importance of spatial cues for successful wayfinding. I will push forward these findings and investigate how spatial cues are learned and represented during child and adulthood and later used for actual navigation. The role of language for spatial strategies to date is entirely unknown. Language could play a key role in spatial strategy switch during childhood as well as affect wayfinding strategies for children and adults. The combination of different methods, FMRI, EEG, measurement of eye-movements, response times as well as navigational behaviour collected during initial and repeated spatial cue learning and wayfinding will provide answers to these questions. In sum, the proposed research provides new insight into the nature of human spatial thinking for children and adults.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology mammalogy primatology
- engineering and technology medical engineering diagnostic imaging magnetic resonance imaging
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2007-StG
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
6525 XZ Nijmegen
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.