Knowledge Across Reference Frames: Cognitive Maps and Image Spaces. Issue 8 (August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bottini, Roberto; Doeller, Christian F.
• Is Part Of: Trends in cognitive sciences. Volume 24:Issue 8(2020)
• Page Start: 606
• Page End: 619
• Publication Date: 2020-08
• Subjects: conceptual knowledge -- space -- hippocampus -- parietal lobe -- conceptual metaphors -- analogy; Cognitive science -- Periodicals; Cognitive neuroscience -- Periodicals; 153.05
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.05.008
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1364-6613

Abstract

Abstract : In human and non-human animals, conceptual knowledge is partially organized according to low-dimensional geometries that rely on brain structures and computations involved in spatial representations. Recently, two separate lines of research have investigated cognitive maps, that are associated with the hippocampal formation and are similar to world-centered representations of the environment, and image spaces, that are associated with the parietal cortex and are similar to self-centered spatial relationships. We review evidence supporting cognitive maps and image spaces, and we propose a hippocampal–parietal network that can account for the organization and retrieval of knowledge across multiple reference frames. We also suggest that cognitive maps and image spaces may be two manifestations of a more general propensity of the mind to create low-dimensional internal models. Highlights: Conceptual knowledge is partially organized in low-dimensional geometries – 'cognitive maps' – that are analogs of world-centered representations of the environment, and are associated with the hippocampal formation, and image spaces, that are analogs of self-centered spatial relationships and are mostly associated with the parietal cortex. The complementary activity of cognitive maps and image spaces during conceptual retrieval and manipulation may be akin to the dual system involved in spatial navigation, which is based both on self-centered and world-centered information. Low-dimensional mental geometries such as cognitive maps and image spaces may play a crucial role in goal-directed cognition, analogical thinking, generalization, and the structuring of abstract conceptual domains.