Spatial updating during rotation: the role of vestibular information and mental activity
Spatial updating during rotation: the role of vestibular information and mental activity
The remarkable accuracy with which healthy subjects can monitor their orientation while walking in darkness has been attributed to a process whereby awareness of orientation is automatically updated by information derived from active locomotion. The aim of this study was, first, to determine the contribution of vestibular information to the perception of orientation without vision, by comparing the accuracy of judgments of orientation following passive (seated) rotation about an earth-vertical axis with those following active (locomotor) rotation. The second aim was to assess whether monitoring orientation is indeed automatic, or whether it requires some degree of mental effort. This was evaluated by assessing whether accuracy in monitoring multiple passive or active rotations was affected by asking subjects to perform a mental task (that is, counting backwards) during rotation. The results indicated that although reliance on the primarily vestibular information available during passive rotation enabled subjects to accurately monitor single turns of up to 180°, subjects were able to judge orientation after multiple turns more accurately after active rotation than after passive rotation, owing to the additional sensorimotor feedback gained from active locomotion. Accuracy in judging orientation was substantially impaired by backwards counting during both passive and active locomotion. This finding confirms that monitoring orientation during multiple turns in darkness necessitates central processing and adds to the growing body of evidence for the influence of mental activity on the perception and control of orientation.
Motion perception, Orientation, Spatial processing, Vestibular
435-442
Yardley, Lucy
64be42c4-511d-484d-abaa-f8813452a22e
Higgins, Marsha
657f40b9-2e99-4b03-9731-9206a5ca8804
1 January 1998
Yardley, Lucy
64be42c4-511d-484d-abaa-f8813452a22e
Higgins, Marsha
657f40b9-2e99-4b03-9731-9206a5ca8804
Yardley, Lucy and Higgins, Marsha
(1998)
Spatial updating during rotation: the role of vestibular information and mental activity.
Journal of Vestibular Research: Equilibrium and Orientation, 8 (6), .
(doi:10.3233/ves-1998-8604).
Abstract
The remarkable accuracy with which healthy subjects can monitor their orientation while walking in darkness has been attributed to a process whereby awareness of orientation is automatically updated by information derived from active locomotion. The aim of this study was, first, to determine the contribution of vestibular information to the perception of orientation without vision, by comparing the accuracy of judgments of orientation following passive (seated) rotation about an earth-vertical axis with those following active (locomotor) rotation. The second aim was to assess whether monitoring orientation is indeed automatic, or whether it requires some degree of mental effort. This was evaluated by assessing whether accuracy in monitoring multiple passive or active rotations was affected by asking subjects to perform a mental task (that is, counting backwards) during rotation. The results indicated that although reliance on the primarily vestibular information available during passive rotation enabled subjects to accurately monitor single turns of up to 180°, subjects were able to judge orientation after multiple turns more accurately after active rotation than after passive rotation, owing to the additional sensorimotor feedback gained from active locomotion. Accuracy in judging orientation was substantially impaired by backwards counting during both passive and active locomotion. This finding confirms that monitoring orientation during multiple turns in darkness necessitates central processing and adds to the growing body of evidence for the influence of mental activity on the perception and control of orientation.
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Published date: 1 January 1998
Keywords:
Motion perception, Orientation, Spatial processing, Vestibular
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 509319
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/509319
ISSN: 0957-4271
PURE UUID: eca1828a-0e21-4f68-8389-29f6a3c93165
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Date deposited: 18 Feb 2026 17:43
Last modified: 19 Feb 2026 02:35
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Author:
Marsha Higgins
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