Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Sep 3:13:e19817.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.19817. eCollection 2025.

Processing characteristics of visuospatial working memory in map cognition by orienteering athletes: evidence from behavioral and EEG studies

Deyu Zhu  1 , Limin Guo  2 , Yang Liu  3
Affiliations

Processing characteristics of visuospatial working memory in map cognition by orienteering athletes: evidence from behavioral and EEG studies

Deyu Zhu et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

Through maps, the objects on the Earth's surface are abstracted and represented on a plane, achieving the integration of physical entities and conceptual representations, thereby facilitating individuals' rapid understanding and profound cognition of their surroundings. As a system for the storing and processing of visual and spatial information, visuospatial working memory (VSWM) provides individuals with the capacity to temporarily store and process map-related information within a spatial framework. To explore the temporal features of storing and retrieving in VSWM during map-related tasks among orienteers with varying skill levels, 22 orienteers were enrolled in the expert group, while 22 members from orienteering training teams were placed in the novice group. Employing electroencephalography (EEG) technology, this study developed a set of VSWM tasks to examine behavioral performance variations and EEG characteristics between experts and novices. The results revealed that experts exhibited enhanced rationality and superior response efficiency during the map cognition task relative to novices. Neurophysiological evidence further indicated distinct neural resource management patterns in experts, characterized by reduced θ neural oscillations in the frontal regions coupled with enhanced α oscillations in both the frontal and temporal lobes. The empirical outcomes confirm competitive advantages in expert athletes' map processing, response speed, and optimized neural resource allocation. These findings not only deepen insights into the neural mechanisms underlying orienteers' map cognition, but also provide strong theoretical support for orienteering training practices.

Keywords: EEG; Map cognition; Memory retrieval; Memory store; Orienteering.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. 10-10 International electrode placement system.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Example of experiment stimulus materials.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Flowchart of a single trial.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Behavioral performance of orienteers with different skill levels in map cognition task.
(A) Map recall score. (B) Map recall times. (*** represents P < 0.001.)
Figure 5
Figure 5. θ-band neural oscillations of orienteers with different skill levels in map cognition task.
(A) Memory storage phase. (B) Memory retrieval phase.
Figure 6
Figure 6. α-band neural oscillations of orienteers with different skill levels in map cognition task.
(A) Memory storage phase. (B) Memory retrieval phase.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Andrew Z, Steven S, Paul D. The alpha-band of the EEG modulates the perceived location of moving targets. Journal of Vision. 2024;24(10):1515. doi: 10.1167/jov.24.10.1515. - DOI
    1. Baddeley AD, Hitch GJ. Recency re-examined. In: Dornic S, editor. Attention and performance VI. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; Hillsdale, NJ: 1977. pp. 647–667.
    1. Badre D, Wagner AD. Left ventrolateral cortex and the cognitive control of memory. Neuropsychologia. 2007;45(13):2883–2901. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.06.015. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bastos AM, Loonis R, Kornblith S, Lundqvist M, Miller EK. Laminar recordings in frontal cortex suggest distinct layers for maintenance and control of working memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2018;115(5):1117–1122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1710323115. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Borghini G, Candini M, Filannino C, Hussain M, Walsh V, Romei V, Zokaei N, Cappelletti M. Alpha oscillations are causally linked to inhibitory abilities in ageing. The Journal of Neuroscience. 2018;38(18):4418–4429. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1285-17.2018. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources