The spatial brain

Themes emerging from the collection of articles in the Special Section on Long-Term Spatial Memory include the notion of multiple spatial systems, the relation between spatial representations and episodic memory, the role of context, and the neural systems involved in space. The authors conclude that distinguishing between egocentric and allocentric spatial systems makes sense of both behavioral and neurobiological data. The special role of the hippocampal system in allocentric space, and as a consequence, in context, suggests how a spatial system might end up central to the ability to remember episodes. For the past 30 years or so, the study of the neural systems concerned with spatial cognition has largely intersected with the study of the neural systems concerned with memory. It has become increasingly clear that some forms of spatial cognition are handled by the same brain systems implicated in episodic memory. Thus, a clearer understanding of the neural underpinnings of spatial cog-nition promises to illuminate both the spatial brain and memory itself. One interesting parallel, for example, might allow research