Table 1.

Proposed four-part taxonomy of landmark function in navigation.

Landmark type	Neural correlate	Functional description
Beacon	Striatum	Single object that marks the exact or nearby location of a goal
Orientation cue	Retrosplenial cortex, anterodorsal thalamic nucleus, and pre- and post-subiculum	Visual cue that provides information about one’s current heading direction
Associative cue	Striatum and parahippocampal gyrus	Single object that is associated with navigationally relevant information
Reference frame	Hippocampus	Environmental geometry (extended surfaces, boundaries, and the intrinsic geometry of discrete object locations) that provides a framework for spatial encoding and localization