Behavioral Disorders of Spatial Cognition in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer’s Disease: Preliminary Findings from the BDSC-MCI Project
(1) Background: Spatial cognition (SC) is one of the earliest cognitive domains to be impaired in the course of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), resulting in spatial disorientation and becoming lost even in familiar surroundings as later dementia symptoms. To date, few studies have identified initial alter...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/13/4/1178 |
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| author | Davide Maria Cammisuli Valeria Isella Federico Verde Vincenzo Silani Nicola Ticozzi Simone Pomati Virginia Bellocchio Valentina Granese Benedetta Vignati Gloria Marchesi Lorenzo Augusto Prete Giada Pavanello Gianluca Castelnuovo |
| author_facet | Davide Maria Cammisuli Valeria Isella Federico Verde Vincenzo Silani Nicola Ticozzi Simone Pomati Virginia Bellocchio Valentina Granese Benedetta Vignati Gloria Marchesi Lorenzo Augusto Prete Giada Pavanello Gianluca Castelnuovo |
| author_sort | Davide Maria Cammisuli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | (1) Background: Spatial cognition (SC) is one of the earliest cognitive domains to be impaired in the course of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), resulting in spatial disorientation and becoming lost even in familiar surroundings as later dementia symptoms. To date, few studies have identified initial alterations of spatial navigation (SN) in the premorbid AD phase by real-world paradigms, and none have adopted an innovative technological apparatus to better detect gait alterations as well as physiological aspects correlated to spatial disorientation (SD). The present study aimed at exploring initial SN defects in patients with prodromal AD via a naturalistic task by using a sensory garment. (2) Methods: 20 community-dwelling patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) due to AD and 20 age/education controls were assessed on their sequential egocentric and allocentric navigation abilities by using a modified version of the Detour Navigation Test (DNT-mv). (3) Results: When compared to controls, patients with MCI due to AD exhibited higher wrong turns (WT) and moments of hesitation (MsH) in the DNT-mv, reflecting difficulties both in sequential egocentric and allocentric navigation, depending on hippocampal deterioration. Moreover, they reported more complaints about their SN competencies and lower long-term visuospatial memory abilities than controls. Remarkably, WTs and MsH manifested in the allocentric naturalistic task of the DNT-mv were associated with autonomic nervous system alteration pertaining to cardiac functioning in the whole sample. (4) Conclusions: Naturalistic navigation tests of hippocampal function using a continuous non-invasive monitoring device can provide early markers of spatial disorientation in patients with MCI due to AD. Future studies should develop cognitive remediation techniques able to enhance SC residual abilities in patients at high risk of conversion into dementia and ecological paradigms to be replicated on a large scale. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:27:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e5433261f2404b4097a0eec9759a5bb7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0383 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:27:09Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-e5433261f2404b4097a0eec9759a5bb72024-02-23T15:22:31ZengMDPI AGJournal of Clinical Medicine2077-03832024-02-01134117810.3390/jcm13041178Behavioral Disorders of Spatial Cognition in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer’s Disease: Preliminary Findings from the BDSC-MCI ProjectDavide Maria Cammisuli0Valeria Isella1Federico Verde2Vincenzo Silani3Nicola Ticozzi4Simone Pomati5Virginia Bellocchio6Valentina Granese7Benedetta Vignati8Gloria Marchesi9Lorenzo Augusto Prete10Giada Pavanello11Gianluca Castelnuovo12Department of Psychology, Catholic University, 20123 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Neurology and Laboratory of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, 20149 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Neurology and Laboratory of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, 20149 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Neurology and Laboratory of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, 20149 Milan, ItalyNeurology Unit, Luigi Sacco University Hospital, 20157 Milan, ItalyCatholic University, 20123 Milan, ItalyCatholic University, 20123 Milan, ItalyCatholic University, 20123 Milan, ItalyCatholic University, 20123 Milan, ItalySchool of Specialization in Clinical Psychology, Catholic University, 20123 Milan, ItalySchool of Specialization in Clinical Psychology, Catholic University, 20123 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, Catholic University, 20123 Milan, Italy(1) Background: Spatial cognition (SC) is one of the earliest cognitive domains to be impaired in the course of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), resulting in spatial disorientation and becoming lost even in familiar surroundings as later dementia symptoms. To date, few studies have identified initial alterations of spatial navigation (SN) in the premorbid AD phase by real-world paradigms, and none have adopted an innovative technological apparatus to better detect gait alterations as well as physiological aspects correlated to spatial disorientation (SD). The present study aimed at exploring initial SN defects in patients with prodromal AD via a naturalistic task by using a sensory garment. (2) Methods: 20 community-dwelling patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) due to AD and 20 age/education controls were assessed on their sequential egocentric and allocentric navigation abilities by using a modified version of the Detour Navigation Test (DNT-mv). (3) Results: When compared to controls, patients with MCI due to AD exhibited higher wrong turns (WT) and moments of hesitation (MsH) in the DNT-mv, reflecting difficulties both in sequential egocentric and allocentric navigation, depending on hippocampal deterioration. Moreover, they reported more complaints about their SN competencies and lower long-term visuospatial memory abilities than controls. Remarkably, WTs and MsH manifested in the allocentric naturalistic task of the DNT-mv were associated with autonomic nervous system alteration pertaining to cardiac functioning in the whole sample. (4) Conclusions: Naturalistic navigation tests of hippocampal function using a continuous non-invasive monitoring device can provide early markers of spatial disorientation in patients with MCI due to AD. Future studies should develop cognitive remediation techniques able to enhance SC residual abilities in patients at high risk of conversion into dementia and ecological paradigms to be replicated on a large scale.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/13/4/1178spatial disorientationmild cognitive impairmentAlzheimer’s diseasewearable technologyhippocampus |
| spellingShingle | Davide Maria Cammisuli Valeria Isella Federico Verde Vincenzo Silani Nicola Ticozzi Simone Pomati Virginia Bellocchio Valentina Granese Benedetta Vignati Gloria Marchesi Lorenzo Augusto Prete Giada Pavanello Gianluca Castelnuovo Behavioral Disorders of Spatial Cognition in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer’s Disease: Preliminary Findings from the BDSC-MCI Project Journal of Clinical Medicine spatial disorientation mild cognitive impairment Alzheimer’s disease wearable technology hippocampus |
| title | Behavioral Disorders of Spatial Cognition in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer’s Disease: Preliminary Findings from the BDSC-MCI Project |
| title_full | Behavioral Disorders of Spatial Cognition in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer’s Disease: Preliminary Findings from the BDSC-MCI Project |
| title_fullStr | Behavioral Disorders of Spatial Cognition in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer’s Disease: Preliminary Findings from the BDSC-MCI Project |
| title_full_unstemmed | Behavioral Disorders of Spatial Cognition in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer’s Disease: Preliminary Findings from the BDSC-MCI Project |
| title_short | Behavioral Disorders of Spatial Cognition in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer’s Disease: Preliminary Findings from the BDSC-MCI Project |
| title_sort | behavioral disorders of spatial cognition in patients with mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimer s disease preliminary findings from the bdsc mci project |
| topic | spatial disorientation mild cognitive impairment Alzheimer’s disease wearable technology hippocampus |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/13/4/1178 |
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