Translating spatial navigation evaluation from experimental to clinical settings - the virtual environments navigation assessment (VIENNA)

Abstract

Spatial navigation abilities are frequently impaired in neurological disorders and they also decline with normal aging. Researchers and clinicians therefore need valid and easy-to-use spatial navigation assessment tools to study the impact of different neuropathologies and prevent relevant cognitive impairments from going undetected. However, current experimental paradigms rarely address which cognitive processes they recruit, often have resource intensive set-ups, and usually require active navigation, e.g., using joystick or keyboard, thus confounding cognitive performance with fine motor skills. Yet, for clinical feasibility, time-efficient paradigms are needed that are informative and easy to administer in participants with limited technical experience and diverging impairments. Here, we introduce the virtual environments navigation assessment (VIENNA), a virtual adaptation of a brief, standardized, and intuitive spatial navigation paradigm (https://osf.io/kp4c5/). VIENNA is designed to assess spatial navigation without episodic memory demands and requires no interface device. We evaluated VIENNA in 79 healthy middle-aged to older participants (50–85 years) and provide evidence for its feasibility and construct validity. Tests of visuospatial and executive functions, but not episodic memory or selective attention were identified as cognitive correlates of VIENNA, even when controlling for participant age and overall cognitive performance. Furthermore, VIENNA scores correlated with subjective navigation ability and age, but not with depressiveness, cognitive complaints, or education. The straightforward administration of VIENNA allows for its integration into routine neuropsychological assessments and enables differentiated evaluation of spatial navigation performance in patients with motor impairments and episodic memory deficits.

Spatial navigation questionnaires as a supportive diagnostic tool in early Alzheimer's disease

“…Reported navigation abilities and their associations with spatial navigation performance Previous studies have shown that spatial navigation questionnaires are reliable predictors of spatial navigation performance in young, middle-aged, and older adults [29][30][31]71]. To extend current knowledge, the present study examined the potential of self-and informant-reported spatial navigation abilities to re ect objectively measured egocentric and allocentric navigation performance in individuals from the memory clinic cohort.…”