People at risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) may show impaired spatial ability long before the onset of cognitive symptoms, a UK study shows. Researchers from the University of Cambridge and University College London assessed visuospatial ability in 100 people participating in the PREVENT dementia cohort study with a familial history of AD. In particular, participants were asked to navigate through a virtual environment using virtual reality goggles. Importantly, they were on average 25 years younger than the usual age of onset of AD. The researchers found that participants showed selective impairment on this spatial navigation task without an accompanying impairment on cognitive tests. These findings have been interpreted in support of the notion that poor spatial navigation may be a vey early marker of AD, showing long before the onset of cognitive symptoms. In support of this, the researchers note that spatial navigation relies on those brain areas first to be affected by AD (the entorhinal cortex). Identifying such potential early symptoms is relevant for directing intervention efforts, they write.
https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/alz.13733
