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Spatial memory is required to navigate through an environment. In cognitive psychology and neuroscience, spatial memory is a form of memory responsible for the recording and recovery of information needed to plan a course to a location and to recall the location of an object or the occurrence of an event.[1] Spatial memory is necessary for orientation in space.[2][3] Spatial memory can also be divided into egocentric and allocentric spatial memory.[4] A person's spatial memory is required to navigate around a familiar city. A rat's spatial memory is needed to learn the location of food at the end of a maze. In both humans and animals, spatial memories are summarized as a cognitive map.[5]

Spatial memory has representations within working, short-term memory and long-term memory. Research indicates that there are specific areas of the brain associated with spatial memory.[6] Many methods are used for measuring spatial memory in children, adults, and animals.[5]

Short-term spatial memory[edit source] Short-term memory (STM) can be described as a system allowing one to temporarily store and manage information that is necessary to complete complex cognitive tasks.[7] Tasks which employ short-term memory include learning, reasoning, and comprehension.[7] Spatial memory is a cognitive process that enables a person to remember different locations as well as spatial relations between objects.[7] This allows one to remember where an object is in relation to another object;[7] for instance, allowing someone to navigate through a familiar city. Spatial memories are said to form after a person has already gathered and processed sensory information about her or his environment.[7]