A battery of tests for quantitative examination of idiothetic and allothetic place navigation modes in humans

Štěpánková, Kateřina; Pastalkova, Eva; Kalová, Eva; Kalina, Miroslav; Bureš, Jan

doi:10.1016/s0166-4328(03)00141-4

Cited by 21 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…It is designed to separate two different modes of navigation, allocentric and egocentric. The real space navigation setting called the Blue Velvet Arena has been described (15,43). It consists of a fully enclosed cylindrical arena 2.9 m in diameter surrounded by a 2.8-m-high dark-blue velvet curtain.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial navigation deficit in amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Hort

Laczó

Vyhnálek

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

267

266

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Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) frequently have difficulties with spatial orientation in their day-to-day life. Although AD is typically preceded by amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), spatial navigation has not yet been studied in MCI. Sixty-five patients were divided into five groups: probable AD (n ‫؍‬ 21); MCI, further classified as amnestic MCI single domain (n ‫؍‬ 11); amnestic MCI multiple domain (n ‫؍‬ 18), or nonamnestic MCI (n ‫؍‬ 7), and subjective memory complaints (n ‫؍‬ 8). These patients, together with a group of healthy control subjects (n ‫؍‬ 26), were tested by using a four-subtests task that required them to locate an invisible goal inside a circular arena. Each subtest began with an overhead view of the arena showed on a computer monitor. This was followed by a real navigation inside of the actual space, an enclosed arena 2.9 m in diameter. Depending on the subtest, the subjects could use the starting position and/or cues on the wall for navigation. The subtests thus were focused on allocentric and egocentric navigation. The AD group and amnestic MCI multipledomain group were impaired in all subtests. The amnestic MCI single-domain group was impaired significantly in subtests focused on allocentric orientation and at the beginning of the real space egocentric subtest, suggesting impaired memory for allocentric and real space configurations. Our results suggest that spatial navigation impairment occurs early in the development of AD and can be used for monitoring of the disease progression or for evaluation of presymptomiatic AD.allocentric navigation ͉ Alzheimer's disease ͉ egocentric navigation ͉ spatial memory ͉ biomarker

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial navigation deficit in amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Hort

Laczó

Vyhnálek

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

267

266

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“…1a) [18,19]. A TV camera above the center of the arena enables recording of the position of an infrared LED which sits on top of a standing pole (1.7 m high).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial Navigation and APOE in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

et al. 2010

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Background: The effect of APOE Ε4 allele (Ε4) on spatial navigation in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is unknown. Objective: Our purpose was to examine the characteristics of spatial navigation impairment in Ε4-positive (Ε4+) and Ε4-negative (Ε4–) aMCI subgroups. Methods: Blood samples were collected to determine the APOE genotype. A total of 34 aMCI patients were stratified into aMCI-Ε4– (n = 23) and aMCI-Ε4+ (n = 11) groups. Control (n = 28) and mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD; n = 16) groups were also used. We used a human analogue of the Morris water maze (enclosed arena 2.9 m in diameter) to examine body-centered (egocentric) and world-centered (allocentric) spatial navigation. Results: The aMCI-Ε4+ group performed poorer on spatial navigation than the aMCI-Ε4– group in both egocentric and allocentric tasks even though these 2 groups did not differ in global cognitive functioning or neuropsychological tests. The aMCI-Ε4+ and mild AD groups performed similarly on all Morris Water Maze tasks and were outperformed by the aMCI-Ε4– group, which also resembled the control group in performance on the egocentric tasks. The aMCI groups showed poor spatial navigation learning regardless of their Ε4 positivity. Conclusion: We found more profound deficits in spatial navigation in aMCI-Ε4+ relative to aMCI-Ε4– patients. The aMCI-Ε4+ group resembled the mild AD group in spatial navigation performance. Although the Ε4 genotype was indicative of spatial navigation performance, it was not indicative of the aMCI patients’ ability to learn the tasks. Spatial navigation testing represents a promising area with respect to identifying individuals at higher risk for AD among the heterogeneous MCI population.

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“…A real analog of the MWM has also been developed in our laboratory as an apparatus named the “Blue Velvet Arena (BVA)” (Stepankova et al, 1999; Laczo et al, 2010; see Figure 1B). The development of virtual environments (VE) provided a significant methodological advance, allowing the detailed recording of the subject's behavior, along with easy handling and presentation of stimuli.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The vFGN task is completed in a virtual analog of the real BVA apparatus designed previously by our group (Stepankova et al, 1999; depicted in the Figure 1C). The presented study describes the newly-developed vFGN task and presents first data obtained in a group of patients after the first episode of schizophrenia psychosis in comparison to a group of healthy volunteers, in order to express its sensitivity toward the present cognitive deficit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A virtual reality task based on animal research â€“ spatial learning and memory in patients after the first episode of schizophrenia

Fajnerová

Rodríguez²,

Levčík

et al. 2014

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

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Objectives: Cognitive deficit is considered to be a characteristic feature of schizophrenia disorder. A similar cognitive dysfunction was demonstrated in animal models of schizophrenia. However, the poor comparability of methods used to assess cognition in animals and humans could be responsible for low predictive validity of current animal models. In order to assess spatial abilities in schizophrenia and compare our results with the data obtained in animal models, we designed a virtual analog of the Morris water maze (MWM), the virtual Four Goals Navigation (vFGN) task.Methods: Twenty-nine patients after the first psychotic episode with schizophrenia symptoms and a matched group of healthy volunteers performed the vFGN task. They were required to find and remember four hidden goal positions in an enclosed virtual arena. The task consisted of two parts. The Reference memory (RM) session with a stable goal position was designed to test spatial learning. The Delayed-matching-to-place (DMP) session presented a modified working memory protocol designed to test the ability to remember a sequence of three hidden goal positions.Results: Data obtained in the RM session show impaired spatial learning in schizophrenia patients compared to the healthy controls in pointing and navigation accuracy. The DMP session showed impaired spatial memory in schizophrenia during the recall of spatial sequence and a similar deficit in spatial bias in the probe trials. The pointing accuracy and the quadrant preference showed higher sensitivity toward the cognitive deficit than the navigation accuracy. Direct navigation to the goal was affected by sex and age of the tested subjects. The age affected spatial performance only in healthy controls.Conclusions: Despite some limitations of the study, our results correspond well with the previous studies in animal models of schizophrenia and support the decline of spatial cognition in schizophrenia, indicating the usefulness of the vFGN task in comparative research.

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A battery of tests for quantitative examination of idiothetic and allothetic place navigation modes in humans

Cited by 21 publications

References 23 publications

Spatial navigation deficit in amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Spatial navigation deficit in amnestic mild cognitive impairment

Spatial Navigation and APOE in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

A virtual reality task based on animal research â€“ spatial learning and memory in patients after the first episode of schizophrenia

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