The Contribution of Spatially Tuned Brain Cells to Human Navigation Performance

Abstract

Digital navigation systems facilitate goal-directed travel but reduce active engagement with the surrounding environment—a process critical for the formation of allocentric cognitive maps. Neuroscientific evidence reveals that spatial orientation relies on the coordinated activity of specialized spatially tuned neuronal populations, including place cells, head direction cells, grid cells, and border cells. This article introduces the specific properties of these spatially tuned cells, which encode central components of spatial information such as position, direction, distance, boundaries, and object relationships. Cell activities are continuously modulated by the perception of stable landmarks and environmental boundaries. This could form the basis for a “neurocartographic” approach that focuses on the systematic use of these cell activities to support spatial orientation. Enhancing the visual salience of landmarks and boundary structures, as well as integrating Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality(AR)-based components, may strengthen the metric representation of space—particularly grid cell–based coding. The overarching objective of this approach is to promote the development of allocentric and egocentric spatial representations during both real-world navigation and map-based wayfinding, thereby counteracting the decline in navigational abilities observed with the widespread use of digital turn-by-turn systems.