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[P3–283]: NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING IMPROVES THE DIAGNOSIS OF MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT
Author(s) -
Vuoksimaa Eero,
McEvoy Linda,
Franz Carol E.,
Kremen William S.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2017.06.1497
Subject(s) - psychology , verbal learning , entorhinal cortex , neuropsychology , verbal memory , audiology , hippocampus , oncology , cognition , medicine , psychiatry , neuroscience
in its pre-dementia stages and stratification of individuals for future interventional therapies aimed at slowing the progression of disease. The demonstration that EC cells have spatially related firing patterns (head direction cells and grid cells) underpins the role of this region in spatial navigation. To test the hypothesis that navigation is impaired in pre-dementia AD, this study used a novel immersive virtual reality (iVR) platform to test navigation within a simulated environment. The vestibular and locomotor feedback associated with the real world movement required for this iVR task delivers a more naturalistic paradigm than traditional “desktop” VR tasks. Methods: Patients were recruited from the Cambridge Mild Cognitive Impairment Clinic. All patients underwent volumetric MRI scanning and CSF amyloid/tau biomarker studies as part of their diagnostic workup. The iVR environments, programmed in Unity, consist of arenas with boundary cues projected to infinity. Navigation is tested using a path integration paradigm in which participants sequentially walk up to, and “collect”, three objects before being asked to return to the location of object 1. Three different environments are presented, with three different conditions for the return path (boundary cues present, boundary cues absent, removal of environment textural information to disrupt optic flow). Performance is measured in terms of the distance between the estimated and actual location of Object 1. Results: We will present initial behavioural data from MCI biomarker positive and negative patients and from age-matched controls. Behavioural measures will be correlated with EC and hippocampal subfield volumes. Conclusions: The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the iVR test for pre-dementia AD will be compared with a battery of neuropsychological tests used to diagnose early AD. 1) Braak H, Del Tredici K (2015). Brain 138:2814–2833. 2) Hafting et al (2005). Nature 436 801-806.