Biology subjects

Wunderlich, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Wunderlich, A..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

The BeMoBIL Pipeline for automated analyses of multimodal mobile brain and body imaging data

Advancements in hardware technology and analysis methods allow more and more mobility in electroencephalography (EEG) experiments. Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI) studies may record various types of data such as motion or eye tracking in addition to neural activity. Although there are options available to analyze EEG data in a standardized way, they do not fully cover complex multimodal data from mobile experiments. We thus propose the BeMoBIL Pipeline, an easy-to-use pipeline in MATLAB that supports the time-synchronized handling of multimodal data. It is based on EEGLAB and fieldtrip and consists of automated functions for EEG preprocessing and subsequent source separation. It also provides functions for motion data processing and extraction of event markers from different data modalities, including the extraction of eye-movement and gait-related events from EEG using independent component analysis. The pipeline introduces a new robust method for region-of-interest-based group-level clustering of independent EEG components. Finally, the BeMoBIL Pipeline provides analytical visualizations at various processing steps, keeping the analysis transparent and allowing for quality checks of the resulting outcomes. All parameters and steps are documented within the data structure and can be fully replicated using the same scripts. This pipeline makes the processing and analysis of (mobile) EEG and body data more reliable and independent of the prior experience of the individual researchers, thus facilitating the use of EEG in general and MoBI in particular. It is an open-source project available for download at https://github.com/BeMoBIL/bemobil-pipeline which allows for community-driven adaptations in the future.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

Landmark-Based Turn-by-Turn Instructions Enhance Incidental Spatial Knowledge Acquisition

The augmentation of landmarks in auditory navigation instructions had been shown to improve incidental spatial knowledge acquisition during assisted navigation. Here, two driving simulator experiments are reported that replicated this effect even when adding a three-week delay between navigation and spatial tasks and varying the degree of detail in the provided landmark information. Performance in free- and cued-recall of landmarks and driving the route again without assistance demonstrated increased landmark and route knowledge when navigating with landmark-based compared to standard instructions. The results emphasize that small changes to existing navigation systems can foster spatial knowledge acquisition during every-day navigation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

Brain dynamics of assisted pedestrian navigation in the real-world

Conducting neuroscience research in the real world remains challenging because of movement- and environment-related artifacts as well as missing control over stimulus presentation. The present study demonstrated that it is possible to investigate the neuronal correlates underlying visuo-spatial information processing during real-world navigation. Using mobile EEG allowed for extraction of saccade- and blink-related potentials as well as gait-related EEG activity. In combination with source-based cleaning of non-brain activity and unfolding of overlapping event-related activity, brain activity of naturally behaving humans was revealed even in a complex and dynamic city environment.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

Overcoming Spatial Deskilling Using Landmark-Based Navigation Assistance Systems

The repeated use of navigation assistance systems leads to decreased processing of the environment. Previous studies demonstrated that auditory augmentation of landmarks in navigation instructions can improve incidental spatial knowledge acquisition when driving a single route through an unfamiliar virtual environment. Based on these results, three experiments were conducted to investigate the generalizability and ecological validity of incidental spatial knowledge acquisition by landmark augmentation in navigation instructions. In the first experiment, spatial knowledge acquisition was tested after watching an interactive video showing the navigation of a real-world urban route. A second experiment investigated incidental spatial knowledge acquisition during assisted navigation when participants walked through the same real-world, urban environment. The third experiment tested the acquired spatial knowledge two weeks after an assisted pedestrian navigation phase through the real-world. All experiments demonstrated better performance in a cued-recall task for participants navigating with landmark-based navigation instructions as compared to standard instructions. Different levels of information provided with landmark-based instructions impacted landmark recognition dependent on the delay between navigation and test. The results replicated an improved landmark and route knowledge when using landmark-based navigation instructions emphasizing that auditory landmark augmentation enhances incidental spatial knowledge acquisition, and that this enhancement can be generalized to real-life settings. This research is paving the way for navigation assistants that, instead of impairing spatial knowledge acquisition, incidentally foster the acquisition of landmark and route knowledge during every-day navigation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Electrocortical Evidence for Long-Term Incidental Spatial Learning Through Modified Navigation Instructions

The use of Navigation Assistance Systems for spatial orienting has become increasingly popular. Such automated navigation support, however, comes with a reduced processing of the surrounding environment and often with a decline of spatial orienting ability. To prevent such deskilling and to support spatial learning, the present study investigated incidental spatial learning by comparing standard navigation instructions with two modified navigation instruction conditions. The first modified instruction condition highlighted landmarks and provided additional redundant information regarding the landmark (contrast condition), while the second highlighted landmarks and included personal relevant information regarding the landmark (personal-reference condition). Participants spatial knowledge of the previously unknown virtual city was tested three weeks later. Behavioral and electroencephalographic (EEG) data demonstrated enhanced memory performance for participants in the modified navigation instruction conditions without further differentiating between modified instructions. Recognition performance of landmarks was better and the late positive complex of the event-related potential (ERP) revealed amplitude differences reflecting an increased amount of recollected information for modified navigation instructions. The results indicate a significant long-term spatial learning effect when landmarks are highlighted during navigation instructions.

neuroscience↗