Spatial navigation requires tracking and remembering where we are and where we are going. Although our brains contain the same neural apparatus used by rodents - place cells, grid cells, head direction cells - people can navigate by relying on a broad range of tools, including maps, signs, and even language or gesture. In this talk, Dr Steven Weisberg will discuss their research on how various tools can support spatial navigation, or not. Using real and virtual environments, their work shows that navigation tools are not panaceas, at best providing access to information that can be difficult to glean. Yet, research on the neural representation of spatial directions may show how they might be made more effective for a broader range of navigators, including those with navigation impairments. 

About the speaker:

Dr Steven Weisberg is a cognitive neuroscientist who studies human spatial navigation using fMRI, virtual reality, and his own fairly faulty sense of direction. Dr. Weisberg directs the Spatial Cognition and Navigational Neuroscience (SCANN) lab at the University of Florida, where he has been an assistant professor of psychology since 2019. Prior to moving to Florida (and earning his BA in psychology at the College of William and Mary), Dr. Weisberg was a lifelong Philadelphian, earning his PhD in psychology from Temple University and completing his post-doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Gainesville, FL with his wife (Lauren), son (Kylo, 4), and daughter (Arie, 5 months). 

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