An embodied perspective on anosognosia

In addition to impairments in episodic and spatial memory, a lack of awareness for one’s memory deficits (also referred to as anosognosia) may be considered a crucial cognitive marker of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). However, although a growing body of interesting models have been proposed to explain this early symptom, what is still missing is a unifying theoretical framework able to elucidate the complex mechanisms underlying anosognosia. To overcome this issue, it has been recently proposed by the experienced researcher of this project that anosognosia may be related to a break in the synchronization between spatial reference frames (i.e., the Mental Frame Syncing). Starting from these theoretical premises, rooted in neuroscience research field, the major objectives of this interdisciplinary proposal are: a) Investigating the role of “mental frame syncing” in explaining anosognosia in patients with early AD; b) Designing and developing a new “embodied machine” for reducing symptoms of anosognosia; c) Testing the new “embodied machine” (VirtualSync) in a development-of-concept trial for AD patients suffering from anosognosia; d) Disseminating the activities of the project to the scientific/clinical community and to the general public.