Getting LOST: A conceptual framework for supporting and enhancing spatial navigation in aging

Abstract

Spatial navigation is more difficult and effortful for older than younger individuals, a shift which occurs for a variety of neurological, physical, and cognitive reasons associated with aging. Despite a large body of evidence documenting age-related deficits in spatial navigation, comparatively less research addresses how to facilitate more effective navigation behavior for older adults. Since navigation challenges arise for a variety of reasons in old age, a one-size-fits-all solution is unlikely to work. Here, we introduce a framework for the variety of spatial navigation challenges faced in aging, which we call LOST – Location, Orientation, Spatial mapping, and Transit. The LOST framework builds on evidence from the cognitive neuroscience of spatial navigation, which reveals distinct components underpinning human wayfinding. We evaluate research on navigational aids – devices and depictions – which help people find their way around; and we reflect on how navigation aids solve (or fail to solve) specific wayfinding difficulties faced by older adults. In summary, we emphasize a bespoke approach to improving spatial navigation in aging, which focuses on tailoring navigation solutions to specific navigation challenges. Our hope is that by providing precise support to older navigators, navigation opportunities can facilitate independence and exploration, while minimizing the danger of becoming lost. We conclude by delineating critical knowledge gaps in how to improve older adults’ spatial navigation capacities that the novel LOST framework could guide to address.