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Spatial navigation and memory are among the most fundamental abilities in humans, and necessary for successful functioning in everyday life. Impairments in navigational and memory functions, in turn, can have severe consequences for individuals, such as impaired mobility, reduced social participation, and isolation. Spatial navigation and memory abilities decline in older age, and deficits in navigational and memory functions are among the hallmark symptoms of severe neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. In order to enable early detection, intervention, and treatment for affected individuals, it is thus imperative to study and understand how the human brain supports these critical functions in our everyday life.

The Stangl Lab uses a multimodal neuroimaging approach (i.e., invasive electrophysiology as well as non-invasive recording techniques) to study navigational and memory functions in both laboratory-based experiments as well as mobile real-world studies during natural movement and behavior, in the pursuit of two central goals:

  1. To gain an ecologically-valid understanding of how the human brain supports navigation and memory in everyday life situations
     

  2. To determine the neural mechanisms that underlie age-related navigation and memory deficits

METHODS AND TOOLS

Intracranial recordings during natural movement and behavior

Intracranial recordings of local field potential and single-neuron activity

Non-invasive neuroimaging methods

Wearable technologies, motion tracking, and virtual reality

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