Distortions of space & time

Humans and other animals share a remarkable ability to construct an internal representation of the environment – a ‘cognitive map’ (see Epstein et al., 2017 Nat Neuro). However, this internal map is typically distorted leading under or over estimations in travel times or distances. We have begun to explore how such internal maps are impacted by factors such as sleep/reward (Javadi et al., 2015 Learning and Memory), familiarity with the environment (Jaffapour and Spiers 2017 Hippocampus) and forced detours in the space (Brunec et al., 2017 Cognition).

Source image: Bunec et al., 2017 Cognition