Spatial navigation and episodic memory impairment in the development of Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Spatial navigation and episodic memory impairment in the development of Alzheimer's disease Kamil Vlcek1*, Jan Laczo2, Martin Vyhnalek2 and Jakub Hort2 1 Academy of Sciences, Institute of Physiology, Czechia 2 Charles University , 2nd School of Medicine, Czechia The spatial navigation impairment is an important symptom of Alzheimer¢s (AD) disease. Clinically-relevant impairments in navigational skills are often apparent in the early stages and reports of impaired spatial behaviour, like getting lost in familiar places, can in many cases lead to the recognition of cognitive impairment and diagnosis of dementia. The AD tends to be preceded by a long period with cognitive impairment without dementia, referred to as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Clinical subtypes of MCI were suggested, covering all cognitive domains, and distinguished most often to amnestic and non-amnestic forms, both possibly single or multi domain. This distinction is relevant when considering the outcomes of subjects with MCI and can be possibly refined using novel cognitive tests. A novel proposed distinction is to hippocampal and non-hippocampal amnestic MCI, based on the pattern of free and cued memory impairment. The spatial navigation impairment pattern of MCI subtypes was studied in a real space circular arena 2.8 m in diameter, in an analogy of a Morris water maze and other spatial tests focused on simple navigation strategies and on navigation without vision. Episodic memory was also assessed using a paradigm of non-verbal episodic-like memory. The implication of the results for clinical monitoring of the disease progression or evaluation of pre-symptomatic individuals at risk of AD will be discussed. Our work is supported by GACR grants 309/09/1053 and 309/09/0286, MSMT CR 1M0517 and LC554 and research project AV0Z50 110509. Conference: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting, Rhodes Island, Greece, 13 Sep - 18 Sep, 2009. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Symposia lectures Citation: Vlcek K, Laczo J, Vyhnalek M and Hort J (2009). Spatial navigation and episodic memory impairment in the development of Alzheimer's disease. Conference Abstract: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.08.2009.09.059 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 05 Jun 2009; Published Online: 05 Jun 2009. * Correspondence: Kamil Vlcek, Academy of Sciences, Institute of Physiology, Prague, Czechia, kamil.vlcek@fgu.cas.cz Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Kamil Vlcek Jan Laczo Martin Vyhnalek Jakub Hort Google Kamil Vlcek Jan Laczo Martin Vyhnalek Jakub Hort Google Scholar Kamil Vlcek Jan Laczo Martin Vyhnalek Jakub Hort PubMed Kamil Vlcek Jan Laczo Martin Vyhnalek Jakub Hort Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.