The development of spatial memory in children between two and nine years of age
Type de matériel :
87
This article summarizes our recent research on the emergence and development of allocentric spatial memory capacities in children with typical development. This type of memory is a fundamental component of episodic memory, the memory for autobiographical events that happened in unique spatio-temporal contexts. It depends on the proper functioning of a particular brain region called the hippocampus or the hippocampal formation. Our research has shown that the ability to create allocentric spatial memory representations, viewpoint-independent representations of the relations between different objects in the environment, emerges at around two years of age. Allocentric spatial memory continues to improve in terms of spatial and temporal resolution over the next five to seven years. The emergence of spatial memory abilities also enables the creation of cognitive maps of the environment, which do not depend on the presence of visual information. Neuroanatomical studies in animals suggest that the maturation of the CA1 region of the hippocampus contributes to the emergence of low-resolution allocentric spatial memory, while the maturation of the dentate gyrus and the CA3 region of the hippocampus contributes to the improvement of spatial memory during early childhood.
Réseaux sociaux