In the last decades, virtual reality environments are largely used in#R##N#cognitive neuroscience research in order to provide participants with the possibility#R##N#to navigate a space while brain activity is scanned through neuroimaging#R##N#techniques such as MRI and similar. Accordingly in the field of spatial cognition#R##N#research, several publications strongly assume the equivalence between exploring#R##N#a not simulated and a computer-simulated environment. Albeit considering, since#R##N#its first introduction in cognitive research, virtual reality simulation as an interesting#R##N#possibility to study spatial knowledge organization, in the present paper I#R##N#would like to address an “unrevealed question”: is it reasonable to obtain the same#R##N#conclusions about spatial cognition from classical neuropsychological tests and#R##N#virtual reality simulations? Or are there any differences for spatial knowledge#R##N#acquisition provided from the simulations’ characteristics that we have to strongly#R##N#consider? The main aim of this contribution is to find a possible answer to this#R##N#question by introducing an embodied cognition approach to the study of#R##N#wayfinding.
['Francesca Morganti']
Embodied Space in Natural and Virtual Environments: Implications for Cognitive Neuroscience Research