Naturalistic spatial education engages distinct neural processes for mental rotation, cognitive load, and linguistic demands
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
- 2Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
- 3Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003
- 4Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
- 5Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Abstract
Neuroscience studies typically isolate spatial cognition using simplified tasks targeting a single cognitive process. However, during formal spatial education, the brain rarely performs one cognitive operation at a time. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess neural systems involved in dynamically processing an educational spatial visualization lesson. We quantified lesson content using an instructional-design framework capturing variation in spatial complexity, cognitive load, and verbal density. We then characterized how instructional demands modulated brain function using content-evoked responses, functional connectivity, and network-centrality. Spatial transformations during instruction robustly recruited parietal and premotor regions, which were linearly modulated by spatial complexity. This parietal dominance aligns with theories that these areas encode geometric and quantitative dimensions. In contrast, domain-general frontal activity tracked overall processing demands, and language regions tracked verbal density. Activity also varied with learners’ spatial abilities: higher spatial performers showed stronger modulation of parietal and premotor regions as spatial demands increased, and greater domain-general modulation across content types. Thus, the same circuitry representing spatial transformations during instruction also reflects individual variation in spatial cognition. Parietal regions showed the highest centrality and strongest within-network coherence, marking them as the central hub of the system, and distinguishing them from less central and less coherent domain-general regions. Together, the findings reveal how the brain dynamically decomposes complex spatial instruction, preserving parietal-centered spatial processing, while coordinating support from premotor, domain-general, and language systems. These findings begin to reveal how spatial cognition operates within the complexity of formal instruction.
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BibTeX
@article{gacetta2026naturalistic,
title = {{Naturalistic spatial education engages distinct neural processes for mental rotation, cognitive load, and linguistic demands}},
author = {Eloise B. Gacetta and Marissa L. Laws and Lauren S. Aulet and Teoman S. Ozaydin and Jonathan S. Tsay and Conrad Zapanta and Jessica F. Cantlon},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1073/pnas.2601206123},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2601206123},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Naturalistic spatial education engages distinct neural processes for mental rotation, cognitive load, and linguistic demands
AU - Eloise B. Gacetta
AU - Marissa L. Laws
AU - Lauren S. Aulet
AU - Teoman S. Ozaydin
AU - Jonathan S. Tsay
AU - Conrad Zapanta
AU - Jessica F. Cantlon
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2601206123
UR - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2601206123
AB - Neuroscience studies typically isolate spatial cognition using simplified tasks targeting a single cognitive process. However, during formal spatial education, the brain rarely performs one cognitive operation at a time. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess neural systems involved in dynamically processing an educational spatial visualization lesson. We quantified lesson content using an instructional-design framework capturing variation in spatial complexity, cognitive load, and verbal density. We then characterized how instructional demands modulated brain function using content-evoked responses, functional connectivity, and network-centrality. Spatial transformations during instruction robustly recruited parietal and premotor regions, which were linearly modulated by spatial complexity. This parietal dominance aligns with theories that these areas encode geometric and quantitative dimensions. In contrast, domain-general frontal activity tracked overall processing demands, and language regions tracked verbal density. Activity also varied with learners’ spatial abilities: higher spatial performers showed stronger modulation of parietal and premotor regions as spatial demands increased, and greater domain-general modulation across content types. Thus, the same circuitry representing spatial transformations during instruction also reflects individual variation in spatial cognition. Parietal regions showed the highest centrality and strongest within-network coherence, marking them as the central hub of the system, and distinguishing them from less central and less coherent domain-general regions. Together, the findings reveal how the brain dynamically decomposes complex spatial instruction, preserving parietal-centered spatial processing, while coordinating support from premotor, domain-general, and language systems. These findings begin to reveal how spatial cognition operates within the complexity of formal instruction.
SN - 0027-8424
SN - 1091-6490
ER -