The issue of whether encoding of geometric information for
navigational purposes crucially depends on environmental
experience or whether it is innately predisposed in the brain has
been recently addressed in controlled rearing studies. Nonhuman
animals can make use of the geometric shape of an
environment for spatial reorientation and in some
circumstances reliance on purely geometric information (metric
properties and sense) can overcome use of local featural
information. Animals reared in home cages of different
geometric shapes proved to be equally capable of learning and
performing navigational tasks based on geometric information.
The findings suggest that effective use of geometric
information for spatial reorientation does not require
experience in environments with right angles and metrically
distinct surfaces.
