Walking Corsi Test Research Articles

A dedicated system for topographical working memory: evidence from domain-specific interference tests.

In the present study, we used single- and dual-task conditions to investigate the nature of topographical working memory to better understand what type of task can hamper performance during navigation. During dual-task conditions, we considered four different sources of interference: motor (M), spatial motor (SM), verbal (i.e. articulatory suppression AS) and spatial environmental (SE). In order to assess the nature of topographical working memory, we used the Walking Corsi Test, asking the participants to perform two tasks simultaneously (M, SM, AS and SE). Our results showed that only spatial-environmental interference hampers the execution of a topographical working memory task, suggesting a task-domain-specific effect. We also found general gender differences in the topographical working memory capabilities: men were more proficient than women, regardless of the type of interferences. However, like men, women performed worse when a spatial-environmental interference was present.

The virtual reality Walking Corsi Test

We compared the performance of men and women on a modified and a virtual version of the Walking Corsi Test (WalCT). The WalCT is a large version of the Corsi Block-Tapping Task that requires learning a path and then recalling it. It has been proved to measure topographical memory. The main aim of the study was to compare the effects of real and virtual reality learning environment on the acquisition of spatial information. A secondary aim was to detect the presence of gender-related differences in the two environments. Specifically, we expected that men would perform better in both environments. Eighty college students (40 men) were assigned to real or virtual environments and had to learn four different paths. Gender differences emerged in both environments: men outperformed women in both the real and the virtual reality environment. Results did not show difference in virtual and real environment supporting the equivalence of the two tests to measure topographical memory. Gender-related differences are interpreted in light of Coluccia and Louse’s model, according to which men outperform women when tasks require a high visuo-spatial working memory load and the different spatial strategy used by men and women.

A selective egocentric topographical working memory deficit in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease: a preliminary study.

The aim of this study was to determine whether an egocentric topographical working memory (WM) deficit is present in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with respect to other forms of visuospatial WM. Further, we would investigate whether this deficit could be present in patients having AD without topographical disorientation (TD) signs in everyday life assessed through an informal interview to caregivers. Seven patients with AD and 20 healthy participants performed the Walking Corsi Test and the Corsi Block-Tapping Test. The former test requires memorizing a sequence of places by following a path and the latter is a well-known visuospatial memory task. Patients with AD also performed a verbal WM test to exclude the presence of general WM impairments. Preliminary results suggest that egocentric topographical WM is selectively impaired, with respect to visuospatial and verbal WM, even without TD suggesting an important role of this memory in the early stages of AD.

Cognitive Impairment Assessment through Visuospatial Memory Can Be Performed with a Modified Walking Corsi Test Using the ‘Magic Carpet'

Background: Subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have disturbances in their spatial navigation abilities and exhibit early deficits in visuospatial short-term memory. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether a quantitative (span score) and qualitative (evaluating navigation strategies used) analysis of the Corsi test (usual condition and complex navigation task) would be useful to reveal cognitive decline. Methods: We evaluated the performance of 15 young adults, 21 healthy elderly subjects and 15 subjects with MCI using the electronic version of the Corsi test (the Modified Corsi Block-Tapping Test, MCBT) and the complex navigation task (the Modified Walking Corsi Test, MWCT). The MWCT, which is an adaptation of the Corsi test, assesses spatial memory when the subject walks in a complex environment. We used Richard et al.'s model [Cogn Sci 1993;17:497-529] to investigate problem-solving strategies during the Corsi tests. Results: The span scores obtained on the MCBT and the MWCT were significantly lower in the healthy elderly subjects (MCBT = 5.0 ± 0.7; MWCT = 4.0 ± 0.7) and the subjects with MCI (MCBT = 4.7 ± 0.8; MWCT = 4.1 ± 0.9) than in the younger adults (MCBT = 6.2 ± 0.6; MWCT = 5.3 ± 1.0). The visuospatial working memory was more impaired in the complex navigation task (MWCT = 4.3 ± 0.9) than in the modified Corsi test (MCBT = 5.3 ± 0.8). Finally, the subjects with greater cognitive impairment were more likely to have inadequate or absence of problem-solving strategies. Conclusions: Investigating the problem-solving strategies used during the MWCT appears to be a promising way to differentiate between the subjects with MCI and the healthy elderly subjects.

The Walking Corsi Test (WalCT): A Normative Study of Topographical Working Memory in a Sample of 4- to 11-Year-Olds

We report normative data on topographical working memory collected through the Walking Corsi Test (WalCT; Piccardi et al., 2008) for developing a standard administration procedure to be used in clinical and educational practice. A total of 268 typically developing Italian children aged 4–11 years performed both WalCT and Corsi Block-Tapping Test (CBT; Corsi, 1972) a well-known visuo-spatial memory test. WalCT has already been validated in adults, demonstrating sensitivity in detecting topographical memory deficits even in individuals who have no other memory impairments. Our results showed that age, but not sex, affected performances. Both girls and boys had a larger span on the CBT than the WalCT. The youngest group did not differ in performing WalCT and CBT, but from 5.6 years of age children performed better on CBT than WalCT, suggesting that memory in reaching space develops before topographical memory. Only after 5 years of age do children learn to process specifically topographical stimuli, suggesting that this happens when their environmental knowledge becomes operational and they increase environmental independence. We also discuss the importance to introduce WalCT in the clinical assessment.

Segregation of neural circuits involved in spatial learning in reaching and navigational space

Recent behavioral and neuropsychological studies suggest that visuo-spatial memory for reaching and navigational space is dissociated. In the present fMRI study, we investigated the hypothesis that learning spatial sequences in reaching and navigational space is processed by partially segregated neural systems. To this aim, we adapted the Corsi block tapping test (CBT) and the walking Corsi test (WalCT); the latter is a modification of the CBT in which subjects observe and reproduce spatial sequences by walking in a room instead of tapping wooden blocks on a table. Subjects were scanned while learning supra-span sequences of spatial locations through observation of video clips in which an actor tapped the blocks within reaching space (CBT) or walked on tiles placed on a carpet (WalCT). A large cerebral network spanning from visual occipital to parietal to frontal areas was activated during learning of both the CBT and the WalCT sequences. Within this network right lingual gyrus, calcarine sulcus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were specifically associated with learning in navigational space, whereas left inferior temporal gyrus, lingual and fusiform gyrus and middle occipital gyrus were associated with learning sequences in reaching space. These results support the idea of a partial segregation between neural circuits for reaching and navigational space not only in the domain of perception and action planning but also in spatial learning and long-term memory.

The Walking Corsi Test (WalCT): standardization of the topographical memory test in an Italian population

Selective visuo-spatial memory deficits can seriously affect many aspects of daily life; for example, an individual may not remember where he put an object or which path he took to reach his destination. In general, visuo-spatial memory is assessed through pen-and-paper tests that mainly assess memory components in peripersonal space. Recent studies (Piccardi et al. in Exp Brain Res 206:171-177, 2010; Piccardi et al. in Neuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn 18:362-384, 2011) have shown that brain-damaged patients selectively fail on navigation memory tasks but not on other tests of visuo-spatial memory ability. These findings underline the need for a standardized test that measures memory in navigation separately from other types of visuo-spatial memory. Here, we report the validation of the Walking Corsi Test (WalCT: Piccardi et al. in Neurosci Lett 432:127-131, 2008) on 289 individuals aged 15-86 years. The WalCT is a new instrument that assesses topographical memory in real environments and reproduces on a large-scale version the Corsi Block-Tapping Test (CBT: Corsi in Unpublished doctoral dissertation, McGill University, Montreal, 1972). The WalCT has been used in clinical practice and has proven sensitive in detecting navigational memory deficits even in individuals who have no other memory impairments (Piccardi et al. in Exp Brain Res 206:171-177, 2010; Piccardi et al. in Neuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn 18:362-384, 2011; Bianchini et al. in Neuropsychologia 48:1563-1573, 2010 ).

Role of visuo-spatial working memory in path integration disorders in neglect

This paper investigates the relationship between memory deficits and navigational ability in neglect. In recent studies (Piccardi et al., 2008a, 2010; Bianchini et al., 2010), a dissociation was found in visuo-spatial memory for peripersonal/reaching space and visuo-spatial memory for navigational space, suggesting that the latter is processed by a specific system devoted to storing environmental information for navigational purposes (Piccardi et al., 2010). Specific deficits have also been described in neglect patients in navigational tasks requiring to memorize and retrieve a target location in a real environment. In order to analyze the relation between visuo-spatial memory for different type of space (reaching vs navigational) and its relation with navigational processes, in the present study, we compared the performance of right brain-damaged patients with and without neglect on visuo-spatial memory both in peripersonal/reaching (Corsi Block-Tapping test) and in navigational (Walking Corsi test Laser) space with performances on navigational tests (a human version of the Morris Water Maze). Results indicate that a specific deficit in navigational working memory affects navigational ability in neglect patients. Indeed, neglect patients' difficulty in using path integration to navigate in the environment is directly correlated with a deficit in visuo-spatial working memory. These results support the existence of a specific memory system devoted to representing environmental information for navigational purposes and separate from visuo-spatial memory systems, which stores information in peripersonal/reaching space.

Dissociated deficits of visuo-spatial memory in near space and navigational space: Evidence from brain-damaged patients and healthy older participants

ABSTRACT Defects confined to spatial memory can severely affect a variety of daily life activities, such as remembering the location of objects or navigating the environment, until now the skills involved have been mostly assessed with regard to the visual domain using traditional pencil and paper tests. Our aim was to test the efficacy of a recently developed psychometric instrument (Walking Corsi Test: WalCT) to assess the specific contribution of spatial memory to the complex task of retrieving route knowledge. The WalCT is a 3×2.5-m version of the well-known Corsi Block-tapping Test (CBT), in which patients are required to memorize (and replicate) a sequence of body displacements. We assessed the ability of left and right brain-damaged patients, as well as healthy young and senior controls, to perform both the CBT and the WalCT. Results showed differences related to age in the healthy individuals and specific functional dissociations in the brain-damaged patients. The double dissociations found in this study demonstrate the importance of having a task able to detect navigational disorders, because virtual reality tasks are often much too difficult for aged brain-damaged patients to perform.