TY  - JOUR
AU  - Stangl, Matthias
AU  - Kanitscheider, Ingmar
AU  - Riemer, Martin
AU  - Fiete, Ila
AU  - Wolbers, Thomas
TI  - Sources of path integration error in young and aging humans
JO  - Nature Communications
VL  - 11
IS  - 1
SN  - 2041-1723
CY  - [London]
PB  - Nature Publishing Group UK
M1  - DZNE-2020-01162
SP  - 2626
PY  - 2020
AB  - Path integration plays a vital role in navigation: it enables the continuous tracking of one's position in space by integrating self-motion cues. Path integration abilities vary widely across individuals, and tend to deteriorate in old age. The specific causes of path integration errors, however, remain poorly characterized. Here, we combine tests of path integration performance in participants of different ages with an analysis based on the Langevin equation for diffusive dynamics, which allows us to decompose errors into distinct causes that can corrupt path integration computations. We show that, across age groups, the dominant error source is unbiased noise that accumulates with travel distance not elapsed time, suggesting that the noise originates in the velocity input rather than within the integrator. Age-related declines are primarily traced to a growth in this noise. These findings shed light on the contributors to path integration error and the mechanisms underlying age-related navigational deficits.
KW  - Adult
KW  - Aged
KW  - Cognitive Aging: physiology
KW  - Distance Perception: physiology
KW  - Female
KW  - Humans
KW  - Male
KW  - Middle Aged
KW  - Models, Neurological
KW  - Spatial Memory: physiology
KW  - Spatial Navigation: physiology
KW  - Spatial Processing: physiology
KW  - Walking: physiology
KW  - Young Adult
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C2  - pmc:PMC7250899
C6  - pmid:32457293
DO  - DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-15805-9
UR  - https://pub.dzne.de/record/151578
ER  -