MenNaRum · Mental Navigation Gone Awry: Testing the Mental Navigation Framework in the Context of Rumination

MenNaRum aims to test the mental navigation framework (Aru et al., 2023) in the context of rumination. The theory proposes that the spatial navigation related activation in the hippocampus is indicative of a universal navigation mechanism that underlies spatial and non-spatial navigation, i.e. navigation between concepts or thoughts. The navigation process is goal directed and can lead to sudden solutions - insights. When ruminating, people think about their personal problems repetitively, often referred to as ""being stuck in a loop"", potentially indicative of the underlying navigational phenomenon. Rumination has been characterized by dwelling on negative autobiographical memories associated with hippocampal activation. So far, the link between rumination and navigational processing has not been established. MenNaRum aims to (1) establish a link between rumination and spatial navigation by applying a data-driven network analysis approach in an online study, (2) experimentally test the effects of insight induction on rumination, and navigation within a novel virtual-reality task, and (3) systematically review human and animal literature to uncover potential common rudimentary mechanisms for rumination and spatial navigation. In this project, I will integrate experimental psychopathology, behavioral neuroscience, and information technology approaches. MenNaRum will generate new hypotheses, and potentially shift rumination research paradigms towards integration, and interdisciplinarity. Implications include (1) a better understanding of the basic mechanisms of rumination, (2) novel VR-based measurement tools, some of which I will test in the project, and (3) inspiration for new interventions which can relieve the socioeconomic burden of affective disorders. MenNaRum will provide me with the important transferrable, virtual-reality, translational analysis and reviewing skills which will enhance my future interdisciplinary research on rumination and related processes.""