A unified brain system of orientation and its disruption in Alzheimer’s disease
Abstract Objective To investigate whether a unified brain system manages one’s orientation to different places, events and people in one’s environment, and test the hypothesis that failure of this system (disorientation) is an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methods A total of 46 participant...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.50940 |
| _version_ | 1818848617567354880 |
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| author | Amnon Dafni‐Merom Gregory Peters‐Founshtein Shlomzion Kahana‐Merhavi Shahar Arzy |
| author_facet | Amnon Dafni‐Merom Gregory Peters‐Founshtein Shlomzion Kahana‐Merhavi Shahar Arzy |
| author_sort | Amnon Dafni‐Merom |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Objective To investigate whether a unified brain system manages one’s orientation to different places, events and people in one’s environment, and test the hypothesis that failure of this system (disorientation) is an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methods A total of 46 participants (patients along the AD continuum and cognitively normal control subjects) were tested in a personalized, ecologically valid task of orientation relating to the participant’s own world in space, time and person under high–density electroencephalography. As a first step, we used evoked potential mapping to search for brain topography correlated with participants’ performance in orientating themselves to different places (space), events (time) and people (person) (Experiment 1). We then compared behavioral and electrophysiological changes in patients along the AD continuum (Experiment 2). Results We identified a specific brain topography (“orientation map”) that was active for orientation in space, time and person in correlation to participants’ performance. Both performance and the map’s strength gradually decreased from health to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and from MCI to AD. Another map, immediately preceding the orientation map, showed the longest activity in patients with MCI, significantly more than both patients with AD and cognitively normal controls. Interpretation Our findings demonstrate that the same brain topography accounts for orientation in the different domains of space, time and person and provide a nexus between deterioration in patients’ orientation with the aggravation of Alzheimer’s disease. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T06:20:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6bf93210a402431f93a0433174e8f983 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2328-9503 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T06:20:11Z |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology |
| spelling | doaj.art-6bf93210a402431f93a0433174e8f9832022-12-21T20:32:44ZengWileyAnnals of Clinical and Translational Neurology2328-95032019-12-016122468247810.1002/acn3.50940A unified brain system of orientation and its disruption in Alzheimer’s diseaseAmnon Dafni‐Merom0Gregory Peters‐Founshtein1Shlomzion Kahana‐Merhavi2Shahar Arzy3Neuropsychiatry Laboratory Department of Medical Neurobiology Faculty of Medicine Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem IsraelNeuropsychiatry Laboratory Department of Medical Neurobiology Faculty of Medicine Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem IsraelDepartment of Neurology Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center Jerusalem IsraelNeuropsychiatry Laboratory Department of Medical Neurobiology Faculty of Medicine Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem IsraelAbstract Objective To investigate whether a unified brain system manages one’s orientation to different places, events and people in one’s environment, and test the hypothesis that failure of this system (disorientation) is an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methods A total of 46 participants (patients along the AD continuum and cognitively normal control subjects) were tested in a personalized, ecologically valid task of orientation relating to the participant’s own world in space, time and person under high–density electroencephalography. As a first step, we used evoked potential mapping to search for brain topography correlated with participants’ performance in orientating themselves to different places (space), events (time) and people (person) (Experiment 1). We then compared behavioral and electrophysiological changes in patients along the AD continuum (Experiment 2). Results We identified a specific brain topography (“orientation map”) that was active for orientation in space, time and person in correlation to participants’ performance. Both performance and the map’s strength gradually decreased from health to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and from MCI to AD. Another map, immediately preceding the orientation map, showed the longest activity in patients with MCI, significantly more than both patients with AD and cognitively normal controls. Interpretation Our findings demonstrate that the same brain topography accounts for orientation in the different domains of space, time and person and provide a nexus between deterioration in patients’ orientation with the aggravation of Alzheimer’s disease.https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.50940 |
| spellingShingle | Amnon Dafni‐Merom Gregory Peters‐Founshtein Shlomzion Kahana‐Merhavi Shahar Arzy A unified brain system of orientation and its disruption in Alzheimer’s disease Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology |
| title | A unified brain system of orientation and its disruption in Alzheimer’s disease |
| title_full | A unified brain system of orientation and its disruption in Alzheimer’s disease |
| title_fullStr | A unified brain system of orientation and its disruption in Alzheimer’s disease |
| title_full_unstemmed | A unified brain system of orientation and its disruption in Alzheimer’s disease |
| title_short | A unified brain system of orientation and its disruption in Alzheimer’s disease |
| title_sort | unified brain system of orientation and its disruption in alzheimer s disease |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.50940 |
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