Vestibular dysfunction is an important contributor to the aging of visuospatial ability in older adults–Data from a computerized test system

Abstract

BackgroundA convergence of research supports a key role of the vestibular system in visuospatial ability. However, visuospatial ability may decline with age. This work aims to elucidate the important contribution of vestibular function to visuospatial ability in old adults through a computerized test system.MethodsPatients with a clinical history of recurrent vertigo and at least failed one vestibular test were included in this cross-sectional study. Healthy controls of three age groups: older, middle-aged, and young adults were also involved. Visuospatial cognitive outcomes including spatial memory, spatial navigation, and mental rotation of all the groups were recorded. Comparing the performance of the visuospatial abilities between patients and age-matched controls as well as within the controls.ResultsA total of 158 individuals were enrolled. Results showed that patients performed worse than the age-matched controls, with the differences in the forward span (p < 0.001), the time of the maze 8 × 8 (p = 0.009), and the time of the maze 12 × 12 (p = 0.032) being significant. For the differences in visuospatial cognitive outcomes within the controls, the younger group had a significantly better performance than the other groups. The older group and the middle-aged group had comparable performances during all the tests.ConclusionsOlder patients with vestibular dysfunction had more difficulties during visuospatial tasks than age-matched controls, especially in spatial memory and spatial navigation. Within the controls, younger adults did much better than other age groups, while older adults behaved similarly to middle-aged adults. It is a valuable attempt to computerize the administration of tests for visuospatial ability.

Association of Bilateral Vestibulopathy With and Without Hearing Loss With Cognitive-Motor Interference

“…The different cognitive processes and domains that might be affected by vestibular lesions are summarized in the widely cited review by Bigelow and Agrawal . During the past few years, this study was endorsed by more recent findings . The most compelling and strongest evidence shows an association between vestibular function and visuospatial cognition, including visuospatial memory, visuospatial navigation, and mental rotation.…”

“…1 During the past few years, this study was endorsed by more recent findings. 2,[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] The most compelling and strongest evidence shows an association between vestibular function and visuospatial cognition, including visuospatial memory, visuospatial navigation, and mental rotation. Dysfunctions in all 3 subdomains were identified in persons with vestibular dysfunction and were associated with decreased hippocampal volume.…”

Aging of the vestibular system and its relationship to dementia

“…With respect to the latter, the studies by Coughlin et al [40 ▪▪ ] and Lim et al [41 ▪▪ ] seem particularly interesting, especially since the latter was based on a very large sample size. One important development in the area is that more studies are controlling for potential confounds by hearing loss (e.g., [33 ▪▪ ,36 ▪ ,37 ▪▪ ]; see [34] for a review). The last years have also seen the initiation of some large, prospective longitudinal studies [37 ▪▪ ,38].…”

“…Zhang et al [36 ▪ ] compared visuospatial function in patients over 60 who had suffered from recurrent vertigo with that in 3 different control groups: young controls, middle-aged controls and older controls. Subjects were excluded if they suffered from hearing loss that affected daily communication, again stressing the importance of controlling for hearing loss.…”

Research progress on vestibular dysfunction and visual–spatial cognition in patients with Alzheimer’s disease

“…Increasing evidence shows that a decline in vestibular function is related to poor spatial cognitive ability in healthy older adults ( Bigelow et al, 2015 ). Zhang et al (2022) found that (i) visuospatial ability may decline with age, (ii) older adults have weaker visuospatial cognition than younger adults, and (iii) older patients with vestibular dysfunction have worse visuospatial cognition than normal older adults.…”