This chapter examines multisensory spatial navigation in sighted and blind individuals, focusing on the vestibular system’s role in spatial perception. Spatial navigation relies on integrating sensory inputs, including visual, auditory, and vestibular cues. We discuss how healthy adults navigate by combining self-motion cues and audiovisual references and how this affects balance and postural control. The neural mechanisms and brain networks involved in processing spatial cues are explored, along with the impact of blindness on navigation and the cortical differences between sighted and blind individuals. The chapter also highlights the development of locomotion in children and the vestibular system’s role in spatial development. It compares how children use sensory cues differently from adults and describes the navigational abilities of young blind children. Lastly, we mention how physical and motor activity contribute to interindividual variability in navigation, offering insights for improving navigation aids for individuals with visual impairments.

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Multisensory Spatial Navigation in Sighted and Blind Adults and Children

  • Silvia Zanchi,
  • Monica Gori

摘要

This chapter examines multisensory spatial navigation in sighted and blind individuals, focusing on the vestibular system’s role in spatial perception. Spatial navigation relies on integrating sensory inputs, including visual, auditory, and vestibular cues. We discuss how healthy adults navigate by combining self-motion cues and audiovisual references and how this affects balance and postural control. The neural mechanisms and brain networks involved in processing spatial cues are explored, along with the impact of blindness on navigation and the cortical differences between sighted and blind individuals. The chapter also highlights the development of locomotion in children and the vestibular system’s role in spatial development. It compares how children use sensory cues differently from adults and describes the navigational abilities of young blind children. Lastly, we mention how physical and motor activity contribute to interindividual variability in navigation, offering insights for improving navigation aids for individuals with visual impairments.