Navigation through vector addition

Abstract

During short foraging excursions away from their home, central place foragers update their position relative to their point of departure by processing signals generated by locomotion. They therefore can home along a self-generated vector without using learned references. In rodents¹,²,³,⁴,⁵ and other mammals⁶,⁷, this path integration process (dead reckoning) can occur on the basis of purely internal signals, such as vestibular⁸ or proprioceptive (re)afferences⁶. We report here that hamsters are also capable of proceeding to a previously learned feeding site through vector information from locomotion only. The subjects compute⁹ the direction and distance to the goal by subtracting their current-position vector from the stored nest-to-goal vector. This computation pertains to locations per se and therefore occurs in absolute space, independently of landmark objects. If available, prominent visual cues merely serve to confirm the path planned through the addition of self-generated vectors, whereas visual as well as non-visual references confirm that the subject has arrived at the goal site.