Spatial navigation is a multi-faceted behaviour drawing on many different aspects of cognition. Visuospatial abilities, such as spatial working memory and mental rotation, in particular, may be key factors. A range of tests have been developed to assess visuospatial processing and memory, but how such tests relate to navigation ability remains unclear. This understanding is important to advance tests of navigation for disease monitoring in Alzheimer's Disease, where disorientation is an early symptom. Here, we report the use of an established mobile gaming app, Sea Hero Quest, as a measure of navigation ability. We used three separate tests of navigation embedded in the game: wayfinding, path integration and spatial memory in a radial arm maze. In the same participants, we also collected measures of mental rotation (Mental Rotation Test), visuospatial processing (Design Organization Test) and visuospatial working memory (Digital Corsi). We found few strong correlations across our measures. Being good at wayfinding in a virtual navigation test does not mean an individual will rate themself as a confident navigator, be good at path integration, or have a superior memory in a radial arm maze. However, those good at wayfinding tend to perform well on the three visuospatial tasks examined here, and to also use a landmark strategy in the radial maze task. These findings help clarify the inter-relationships between different abilities supporting visuospatial and navigation skills.
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