An object location memory paradigm for older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment

Background: Impairment in navigation abilities and object location memory are often seen in early-stage Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), yet these constructs are not included in standard neuropsychological assessment. We investigated the differential ability of a short digital spatial memory test in mild AD dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: 21 patients with AD dementia (66.9 ± 6.9; 47% female), 22 patients with MCI (69.6 ± 8.3; 46% female) and 21 patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) (62.2 ± 8.9; 48% female) from the Amsterdam Dementia Cohort performed the Object Location Memory Test (OLMT), consisting of a visual perception and memory trial, and the Virtual Tübingen (VT) test, consisting of a scene recognition, route continuation, route ordering and distance comparison task. The correlations with other cognitive domains were examined. Results: Patients with mild AD dementia (Z: −2.51 ± 1.15) and MCI (Z: −1.81 ± 0.92) performed worse than participants with SCD (Z: 0.0 ± 1.0) on the OLMT. Scene recognition and route continuation were equally impaired in patients with AD dementia (Z: −1.14 ± 0.73; Z: −1.44 ± 1.13) and MCI (Z: −1.37 ± 1.25; Z: −1.21 ± 1.07). Route ordering was only impaired in patients with MCI (Z: −0.82 ± 0.78). Weak to moderate correlations were found between route continuation and memory (r(64) = 0.40, p < 0.01), and between route ordering and attention (r(64) = 0.33, p < 0.01), but not for the OLMT. Conclusion: A short digital spatial memory test battery was able to detect object location memory and navigation impairment in patients with mild AD dementia and MCI, highlighting the value of incorporating such a test battery in standard neuropsychological assessment.

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No Effects of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation on Multiple Sessions of Object-Location-Memory Training in Healthy Older Adults

Frontiers in Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnins.2017.00746 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Nadine Külzow ◽

Angelica Vieira Cavalcanti de Sousa ◽

Magda Cesarz ◽

Julie-Marie Hanke ◽

Alida Günsberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Brain Stimulation ◽

Object Location ◽

Memory Training ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Location Memory ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Object Location Memory

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Object-Location Memory Training in Older Adults Leads to Greater Deactivation of the Dorsal Default Mode Network

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnhum.2021.623766 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

Author(s):

Ania Mikos ◽

Brigitta Malagurski ◽

Franziskus Liem ◽

Susan Mérillat ◽

Lutz Jäncke

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Active Control ◽

Cognitive Training ◽

Default Mode Network ◽

Training Group ◽

Object Location ◽

Memory Training ◽

Default Mode ◽

Location Memory ◽

Object Location Memory

Substantial evidence indicates that cognitive training can be efficacious for older adults, but findings regarding training-related brain plasticity have been mixed and vary depending on the imaging modality. Recent years have seen a growth in recognition of the importance of large-scale brain networks on cognition. In particular, task-induced deactivation within the default mode network (DMN) is thought to facilitate externally directed cognition, while aging-related decrements in this neural process are related to reduced cognitive performance. It is not yet clear whether task-induced deactivation within the DMN can be enhanced by cognitive training in the elderly. We previously reported durable cognitive improvements in a sample of healthy older adults (age range = 60–75) who completed 6 weeks of process-based object-location memory training (N = 36) compared to an active control training group (N = 31). The primary aim of the current study is to evaluate whether these cognitive gains are accompanied by training-related changes in task-related DMN deactivation. Given the evidence for heterogeneity of the DMN, we examine task-related activation/deactivation within two separate DMN branches, a ventral branch related to episodic memory and a dorsal branch more closely resembling the canonical DMN. Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing an untrained object-location memory task at four time points before, during, and after the training period. Task-induced (de)activation values were extracted for the ventral and dorsal DMN branches at each time point. Relative to visual fixation baseline: (i) the dorsal DMN was deactivated during the scanner task, while the ventral DMN was activated; (ii) the object-location memory training group exhibited an increase in dorsal DMN deactivation relative to the active control group over the course of training and follow-up; (iii) changes in dorsal DMN deactivation did not correlate with task improvement. These results indicate a training-related enhancement of task-induced deactivation of the dorsal DMN, although the specificity of this improvement to the cognitive task performed in the scanner is not clear.

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