Does deficits in place field formation cause spatial navigation impairment in Alzheimer's disease?

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiva Ghaani Farashahi ◽  
Fariba Bahrami
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Place Field ◽  
Field Formation

Subjective Spatial Navigation Complaints - A Frequent Symptom Reported by Patients with Subjective Cognitive Decline, Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiri Cerman ◽  
Ross Andel ◽  
Jan Laczo ◽  
Martin Vyhnalek ◽  
Zuzana Nedelska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Subjective Cognitive Decline ◽  
Great Effort ◽  
Frequent Symptom ◽  
Normal Controls

Background: Great effort has been put into developing simple and feasible tools capable to detect Alzheimer's disease (AD) in its early clinical stage. Spatial navigation impairment occurs very early in AD and is detectable even in the stage of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Objective: The aim was to describe the frequency of self-reported spatial navigation complaints in patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD), amnestic and non-amnestic MCI (aMCI, naMCI) and AD dementia and to assess whether a simple questionnaire based on these complaints may be used to detect early AD. Method: In total 184 subjects: patients with aMCI (n=61), naMCI (n=27), SCD (n=63), dementia due to AD (n=20) and normal controls (n=13) were recruited. The subjects underwent neuropsychological examination and were administered a questionnaire addressing spatial navigation complaints. Responses to the 15 items questionnaire were scaled into four categories (no, minor, moderate and major complaints). Results: 55% of patients with aMCI, 64% with naMCI, 68% with SCD and 72% with AD complained about their spatial navigation. 38-61% of these complaints were moderate or major. Only 33% normal controls expressed complaints and none was ranked as moderate or major. The SCD, aMCI and AD dementia patients were more likely to express complaints than normal controls (p's<0.050) after adjusting for age, education, sex, depressive symptoms (OR for SCD=4.00, aMCI=3.90, AD dementia=7.02) or anxiety (OR for SCD=3.59, aMCI=3.64, AD dementia=6.41). Conclusion: Spatial navigation complaints are a frequent symptom not only in AD, but also in SCD and aMCI and can potentially be detected by a simple and inexpensive questionnaire.

scholarly journals Influence of visual stimuli on spatial navigation and memory of MCI, Alzheimer's disease patients and healthy control subjects

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. e88-e89
Author(s):  
Mélanie Cogné ◽  
Sophie Auriacombe ◽  
Louise Vasa ◽  
François Tison ◽  
Evelyne Klinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Control Subjects ◽  
Healthy Control

scholarly journals Frontal Functional Connectivity Impairment in Early Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Plaza-Rosales ◽  
Rodrigo Montefusco-Siegmund ◽  
Samuel Madariaga ◽  
Enzo Brunetti ◽  
María Isabel Behrens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Long Range ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Visual Exploration ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Beta Band ◽  
Early Stages

Abstract Background Many neurophysiological markers such as neuronal oscillations, cortical neuronal synchronization and long-range neuronal coupling have been suggested to permit the identification of early cognitive impairments in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, it is still unclear whether alterations in long-range Functional Connectivity (FC) constitute part of early mechanisms in the initial stages of AD.MethodsEighteen participants (69-88 years old), classified as early AD and matching healthy controls, were evaluated while performing a virtual spatial navigation task. We combined electroencephalography (EEG) and eye movement recordings during the performance of a virtual version of the Morris Water Maze (VMWM), where participants had to find a submerged, invisible platform. The groups were compared in their navigation performance with different metrics of brain activity.ResultsWe found that the subjects of both groups showed characteristic visual exploration patterns, with a central and over the horizontal midline exploration in controls and more peripheral and sparse fixations, in early AD subjects. In addition, regions in visual exploration between the groups were significantly different. The control group presented a marked occipital activity in the beta band (15-20 Hz) in comparison to the early AD group at early processing time. These differences in the beta band were much more robust in prefrontal regions with significant differences in the frontal cortex, which has been associated with spatial navigation tasks in addition to planning and decision making.ConclusionsThese results suggest that long-range Functional connectivity networks generated from early visual activity contribute to the mechanisms involved in the loss of spatial encoding at the early stages of AD.

The effect of Alzheimer's disease on spatial navigation strategies

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
pp. 107-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Parizkova ◽  
Ondrej Lerch ◽  
Scott Douglas Moffat ◽  
Ross Andel ◽  
Adela Fendrych Mazancova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Navigation Strategies

scholarly journals Have I Been Here? Sense of Location in People With Alzheimer's Disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-Chyi Pai ◽  
Shau-Shiun Jan
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Cell Function ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Grid Cell ◽  
Heading Direction ◽  
Current Location ◽  
Hit Rates ◽  
Well Differentiated ◽  
The University

Background: When navigating in a particular space, a sense of being at a current location is of great help for the navigators in reaching their destination or getting back to the start. To accomplish this work, interwoven neural structures and neurons are called into play. This system is called the heading direction cell-place cell-grid cell circuit. Evidence from various neuroscience studies has revealed that the regions responsible for this circuit are damaged in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This may explain why wayfinding difficulty is one of the most frequent symptoms in persons with AD. The aim of this study was to examine the sense of location (SoL) in persons with mild AD, persons with prodromal AD (prAD), and those who were cognitively unimpaired (CU).Methods: We invited people with mild AD, prAD, and CU to participate in this study. The venue of the core experiment to assess SoL was a 660-m path located on the university campus. The participants were instructed to take a walk on the path and press a device to indicate their arrival at each of the five carefully chosen targets. The linear deviations from the target site were compared among the groups.Results: A total of 20 AD, 28 prAD, and 29 CU persons completed the study. Their Mini-Mental State Examination scores were on average 20 (SD 3), 24 (SD 3), and 28 (SD 2). The groups were well differentiated regarding several measurements for cognitive ability and spatial navigation. As for the SoL, the hit rates of exact location with linear deviation of 16 m or less were 0.05, 0.54, and 0.86 for AD, prAD, and CU persons, respectively. The hit rates were well correlated with the presence of getting lost. Also, SoL differentiated well among CU, PrAD, and AD in terms of average linear deviation.Conclusions: Our employing linear deviation by utilizing a grid-cell function device as an assessment for SoL showed distinct features among the three groups. This model can be used to develop more delicate devices or instruments to detect, monitor, and aid spatial navigation in persons with prAD and AD.

scholarly journals Impact of Sex and APOE Status on Spatial Navigation in Pre-symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Coughlan ◽  
A. Coutrot ◽  
M. Khondoker ◽  
A. Minihane ◽  
H. Spiers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Cognitive Assessment ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Quality Of Data ◽  
Midlife Adults ◽  
Post Hoc ◽  
The Impact

INTRODUCTIONSpatial navigation is emerging as a critical factor in identifying pre-symptomatic Alzheimer pathophysiology, with the impact of sex and APOE status on spatial navigation yet to be established.METHODSWe estimate the effects of sex on navigation performance in 27,308 individuals (50-70 years [benchmark population]) by employing a novel game-based approach to cognitive assessment using Sea Hero Quest. The effects of APOE genotype and sex on game performance was further examined in a smaller lab-based cohort (n = 44).RESULTSBenchmark data showed an effect of sex on wayfinding distance, duration and path integration. Importantly in the lab cohort, performance on allocentric wayfinding levels was reduced in ε4 carriers compared to ε3 carriers, and effect of sex became negligible when APOE status was controlled for. To demonstrate the robustness of this effect and to ensure the quality of data obtained through unmonitored at-home use of the Sea Hero Quest game, post-hoc analysis was carried out to compare performance by the benchmark population to the monitored lab-cohort.DISCUSSIONAPOE ε4 midlife carriers exhibit changes in navigation pattern before any symptom onset. This supports the move towards spatial navigation as an early cognitive marker and demonstrates for the first time how the utility of large-scale digital cognitive assessment may hold future promise for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. Finally, benchmark findings suggest that gender differences may need to be considered when determining the classification criteria for spatial navigational deficits in midlife adults.

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