«IZVESTIYA IRKUTSKOGO GOSUDARSTVENNOGO UNIVERSITETA». SERIYA «PSICHOLOGIYA»
«THE BULLETIN OF IRKUTSK STATE UNIVERSITY». SERIES «PSYCHOLOGY»
ISSN 2304-1226 (Print)

List of issues > Series «Psychology». 2025. Vol 54

Development of Visual-Spatial Functions in Urban and Rural Population of Children

Author(s)

V. M. Polyakov, L. V. Rychkova, Zh. V. Prokhorova, I. A. Cherevikova, N. S. Vasileva1

1Scientific Centre for Family Health and Human Reproduction Problems, Irkutsk, Russian Federation

Abstract
The article presents the analysis of the development of visual-spatial functions in urban and rural children. The analysis has shown that the results and character of test performance in both urban and rural children aged 4 were about the same. At the age of 5–6 years rural children have a distinct advantage in the development of visual-spatial representations and it is observed until the end of a primary school. The environment, in which child’s ontogenesis takes place, exerts as much influence on space perception and visual-spatial functions as socioeconomic conditions do. Advantage of rural children population in visual-spatial thinking is likely to be due to the fact that the size of space they get to know is bigger and less structured. It promotes earlier activation of visualspatial functions and maturation of brain structures responsible for them.
About the Authors

Polyakov Vladimir Matveevich, Doctor of Sciences (Biology), Leading Researcher at the Laboratory of Psychoneurosomatic Children’s Pathology, Scientific Centre for Family Health and Human Reproduction Problems 16, Timiryazev st., Irkutsk, 664003, Russian Federation e-mail: vmpolyakov@mail.ru

Rychkova Lyubov Vladimirovna, Doctor of Sciences (Medical), Professor, Corresponding Member of RAS, Director Scientific Сentre for Family Health and Human Reproduction Problems 16, Timiryazev st., Irkutsk, 664003, Russian Federation e-mail: iphr@sbamsr.irk.ru 

Prokhorova Zhanna Vladimirovna, Candidate of Sciences (Biology), Head of Laboratory of Psychoneurosomatic Scientific Сentre for Family Health and Human Reproduction Problems 16, Timiryazev st., Irkutsk, 664003, Russian Federation e-mail: proxorowa.janna2011@yandex.ru

Cherevikova Irina Alexsandrovna, Junior Research, Laboratory of Psychoneurosomatic Children’s Pathology Scientific Centre for Family Health and Human 16, Timiryazev st., Irkutsk, 664003, Russian Federation e-mail: gothic.craze@mail.ru 

Vasileva Nadezhda Sergeevna, Clinical Research Assistant at the Laboratory of Pediatric Psychoneurosomatic Pathology Scientific Centre for Family Health and Human 16, Timiryazev st., Irkutsk, 664003, Russian Federation e-mail: wasns-irk@mail.ru

For citation
Polyakov V.M., Rychkova L.V., Prokhorova Zh.V., Cherevikova I.A., Vasileva N.S. Development of VisualSpatial Functions in Urban and Rural Population of Children. The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series Psychology, 2025, vol. 54, pp. 40-58. https://doi.org/10.26516/2304-1226.2025.54.40 (in Russian)
Keywords
visual-spatial functions, environment, population, urban and rural children
UDC
159.931-053.5
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26516/2304-1226.2025.54.40
References
  1. Razlivinskikh I.N. at al. Aktualizatsiya potentsiala neiropsikhologicheskikh uprazhnenii v obrazovatel'nom protsesse nachalnoi shkoly [Actualization of the potential of neuropsychological exercises in the educational process of elementary school]. Sovremennye naukoemkie tekhnologii [Modern High Technologies], 2022, no. 4, pp. 201-208. https://doi.org/10.17513/snt.39133 (in Russian) 
  2. Anastasi A. Differentsialnaya psikhologiya: Individual'nye i gruppovye razlichiya v povedenii [Differential psychology: Individual and group differences in behavior]. Moscow, Eksmo Press Publ. : Aprel Press Publ., 2001, 752 p. (in Russian) 
  3. Akhutina T.V., Pylaeva N.M. Preodolenie trudnostei ucheniya: neiropsikhologicheskii podkhod [Overcoming learning difficulties: a neuropsychological approach]. St. Petersburg, Piter Publ., 2008, 320 p. (in Russian) 
  4. Baranov A.A., Maslova O.I., Namazova-Baranova L.S. Ontogenez neirokognitivnogo razvitiya detei i podrostkov [Ontogenesis of neurocognitive development of children and adolescents]. Vestnik Rossiiskoi akademii meditsinskikh nauk [Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences], 2012, vol. 67, no. 8, pp. 26-33. (in Russian) 
  5. Voronova M.N., Korneev A.A., Akhutina T.V. Longityudnoe issledovanie razvitiya vysshikh psikhicheskikh funktsii u mladshikh shkol'nikov [Longitudinal study of the development of higher mental functions in primary schoolchildren]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 14: Psikhologiya [Moscow University Psychology Bulletin], 2013, no. 4, pp. 48-64. (in Russian) 
  6. Glozman Zh.M. Neiropsikhologicheskoe obsledovanie: kachestvennaya i kolichestvennaya otsenka dannykh [Neuropsychological examination: qualitative and quantitative assessment of data]. Moscow, Smysl Publ., 2019, 264 p. (in Russian) 
  7. Kintanar L., Solov'eva Yu., Lazaro E. Lurievskii podkhod v neiropsikhologicheskom obsledovanii shkol'nikov goroda i derevni v Meksike [Luria's approach in neuropsychological examination of schoolchildren in cities and villages in Mexico]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 14: Psikhologiya [Moscow University Psychology Bulletin], 2002, no. 4, pp. 85-94. (in Russian) 
  8. Maslend R. Kak my vidim? Neirobiologiya zritelnogo vospriyatiya [How do we see? Neurobiology of visual perception]. Moscow, Alpina Pablisher Publ., 2022, 304 p. (in Russian) 
  9. Matsumoto D. Psikhologiya i kultura [Psychology and culture]. St. Petersburg, PraimEvroznak Publ., 2003, 678 p. (in Russian) 
  10. Akhutina T.V. at al. Metody neiropsikhologicheskogo obsledovaniya detei 6-8 let [Methods of neuropsychological examination of children 6-8 years old]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 14 “Psikhologiya” [Moscow University Psychology Bulletin. Series 14, Psychology], 2016, no. 2, pp. 51-58. (in Russian) 
  11. Akhutina T.V. Neiropsikhologiya individualnykh razlichii detei kak osnova ispol'zovaniya neiropsikhologicheskikh metodov v shkole [Neuropsychology of individual differences in children as a basis for using neuropsychological methods in school]. Sbornik dokladov I-i Mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii pamyati A.R. Luriya [Collection of reports of the 1st International conference in memory of A.R. Luria]. Moscow, RPO Publ., 1998, pp. 201-208. (in Russian) 
  12. Polyakov V.M. (ed. by Akhutina T.V., Kholmskaya E.D.) Neiropsikhologiya v skriningovykh issledovaniyakh detskikh populyatsii [Neuropsychology in screening studies of children's populations]. A.R. Luriya i psikhologiya XXI veka [A.R. Luria and psychology of the 21st century]. Reports of the second international conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of A.R. Luria]. Moscow, Smysl Publ., 2003, pp. 198-206. (in Russian) 
  13. Polyakov V.M. Razvitie vysshikh psikhicheskikh protsessov v gorodskoi i selskoi populyatsiyakh detei [Development of higher mental processes in urban and rural populations of children]. Kulturno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya [Cultural-Historical Psychology], 2008, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 9-16. (in Russian) 
  14. Polyakov V.M. at al. Razvitie kinesteticheskoi i prostranstvennoi osnovy dvizhenii v gorodskoi i selskoi populyatsii detei [Development of kinesthetic and spatial basis of movements in urban and rural populations of children]. Acta biomedical scientific, 2025, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.29413/ABS.2025-10.2.18 (in Russian) 
  15. Tynalieva B.K. Mezhpolusharnaya asimmetriya golovnogo mozga zhitelei gornykh raionov Kyrgyzstana [Interhemispheric asymmetry of the brain of residents of mountainous regions of Kyrgyzstan]. Aktualnye voprosy funktsionalnoi mezhpolusharnoi asimmetrii [Current issues of functional interhemispheric asymmetry]. Moscow, NII mozga RAMN Publ., 2005, pp. 310-315. (in Russian) 
  16. Fotekova T.A., Zakharenko N.V., Masalovich Yu.M. Osobennosti vysshikh psikhicheskikh funktsii sel'skikh i gorodskikh detei [Features of higher mental functions of rural and urban children]. Mezhdunarodna nauchna shkola “Paradigma”. Lyato [International Scientific School “Paradigm”. Summer], 2015, vol. 4, no. 8, pp. 377-382. (in Russian) 
  17. Yzhikova E.A. Psikhofiziologicheskaya i morfofunktsionalnaya kharakteristika podrostkov 14-15 let altaiskoi i russkoi natsionalnosti [Psychophysiological and morphofunctional characteristics of adolescents 14-15 years old of Altai and Russian nationality]. Cand. sci. diss. Novosibirsk, 2000, 135 p. (in Russian) 
  18. Baldwin В.Т., Fillmore E.A., Hadley L. Farm Children: An Investigation of Rural Child Life in Selected Areas of Iowa. N.J., Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1930, 337 p. Bond M. Wayfinding. The Art and Science of How We Find and Lose Our Way. Minsk, Picador, 2021, 288 p. 
  19. Epstein R., Kanwicher N.A. A cortical representation of the local visual environment. Nature, 1998, vol. 392, no. 6676, pp. 598-601. 
  20. Xu J. et al. Global urbanicity is associated with brain and behavior in young people. Nature Human Behavior, 2022, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 279-293. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01204-7
  21. Kühn S. at al. Green is not the same as green: differentiating between the association of trees and open green spaces with children's brain structure in the Netherlands. Environment and Behavior, 2023, vol. 55, no. 5, pp. 311-334. https://doi.org/10.1177/00139165231183095
  22. Kühn S., Gallinat J. Environmental neuroscience unravels the pathway from the physical environment to mental health. Nature Mental Health, 2024, no. 2, pp. 263-269. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-023-00137-6
  23. Polyakov V.M. at al. Peculiarities of ontogenesis of brain functional systems in urban and village children. International journal of psychophysiology, 2008, vol. 69, no. 3, pp. 297-298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.05.288
  24. Ramachandran V.S. Encyclopedia of human behavior. London, Academic Press, 2012, 300 p. 
  25. Orsholits D. at al. Residential Trajectories across the Life Course and their Association with Cognitive Functioning in Later Life. Scientific Reports, 2022, vol. 12, no. 1, p. 17004. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-18501-4 
  26. Mavridis P. at al. The Development of Context-Sensitive Attention in Urban and Rural Brazil. Frontiers in psychology, 2020, no. 11, p. 1623. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01623 
  27. Binter A.C. at al. Urban environment during pregnancy and childhood and white matter microstructure in preadolescence in two European birth cohorts. Environmental Pollution, 2024, no. 346, art. 123612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123612
  28. Senkler B. at al. Urbanicity-Perspectives from Neuroscience and Public Health: A Scoping Review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 2022, vol. 20, no. 1, art. 688. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010688
  29. Xia H., Chen R. Impacts of Physical Living Environment on Spatial Learning. Environment and Behavior, 2023, vol. 63, no. 4, pp. 7-23. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/b436v. 



Full text (russian)