Age-Related Changes in Spatial Navigation Are Evident by Midlife and Differ by Sex

Abstract

Accumulating evidence suggests that distinct aspects of successful navigation—path integration, spatial-knowledge acquisition, and navigation strategies—change with advanced age. Yet few studies have established whether navigation deficits emerge early in the aging process (prior to age 65) or whether early age-related deficits vary by sex. Here, we probed healthy young adults (ages 18–28) and midlife adults (ages 43–61) on three essential aspects of navigation. We found, first, that path-integration ability shows negligible effects of sex or age. Second, robust sex differences in spatial-knowledge acquisition are observed not only in young adulthood but also, although with diminished effect, at midlife. Third, by midlife, men and women show decreased ability to acquire spatial knowledge and increased reliance on taking habitual paths. Together, our findings indicate that age-related changes in navigation ability and strategy are evident as early as midlife and that path-integration ability is spared, to some extent, in the transition from youth to middle age.

Coregistration of heading to visual cues in retrosplenial cortex

“…One of the key findings of this paper is that heading, the relative orientation of an animal in an environment, can be encoded separately from physical head direction in the heading network. This finding is consistent with previous studies in which humans solve complex virtual navigation tasks without the requirement of physical movement, suggesting that they can create an abstract mental map of their direction independent of physical locomotion (Maguire et al 1999; Ekstrom et al 2003; Wolbers and Büchel 2005; Yu et al 2021). Research in invertebrates further supports this view, as the E-PG (“compass”) neurons of the Drosophila central complex, an analog of the heading network, is active in virtual environments even when the fly is immobile (Kim et al 2017; Kim et al 2019).…”

“…One of the key findings of this paper is that heading, the relative orientation of an animal in an environment, can be encoded separately from physical head direction in the heading network. This finding is consistent with previous studies in which humans solve complex virtual navigation tasks without the requirement of physical movement, suggesting that they can create an abstract mental map of their direction independent of physical locomotion (Maguire et al 1999;Ekstrom et al 2003;Wolbers and Büchel 2005;Yu et al 2021).…”

Cultural determinants of the gap between self-estimated navigation ability and wayfinding performance: evidence from 46 countries

“…Cross-cultural effects are likely to play a role in the efficacy of self-estimates. For instance, in some cultures, it may be seen as a positive to present oneself as competent at tasks, while in others it may be important to be self-effacing [8, 19, 20–28]. Existing research also indicates that gender and age factors are important elements influencing the reliability of self-estimates.…”

Reliable biomarkers for decreased spatial navigation in the Young People with Obesity: Increased serum CRP and QUIN levels

“…Spatial navigation is a complex set of behavior that comes from the integration of many components of cognition, such as memory, and executive skills (Bermudez-Contreras et al, 2020). The impairment of visual-spatial processing is often thought of as a cognitive impairment that occurs in the early stages of neurodegenerative diseases (Yu et al, 2021). Thus, it is a promising biomarker for identifying people at risk of dementia (Laczó et al, 2022).…”