Beyond Traditional Assessments of Cognitive Impairment: Exploring the Potential of Spatial Navigation Tasks

Giorgio Colombo; Karolina Minta; Tyler Thrash; Jascha Grübel; Jan Wiener; Marios Avraamides; Christoph Hölscher; Victor R. Schinazi

doi:10.1101/2024.10.12.24315402

Beyond Traditional Assessments of Cognitive Impairment: Exploring the Potential of Spatial Navigation Tasks

Giorgio Colombo, Karolina Minta, Tyler Thrash, Jascha Grübel, Jan Wiener, Marios Avraamides, Christoph Hölscher, Victor R. Schinazi

Research output: Other contribution

Abstract (may include machine translation)

INTRODUCTION Alzheimer’s disease affects spatial abilities that are often overlooked in standard cognitive screening tools. We assessed whether the spatial navigation tasks in the Spatial Performance Assessment for Cognitive Evaluation (SPACE) can complement existing tools such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).

METHODS 348 participants aged 21-76 completed the MoCA, SPACE, and sociodemographic- health questionnaires. Regressions were used to predict MoCA scores with risk factors and SPACE tasks as predictors. We also conducted a factor analysis to investigate the relationships among SPACE tasks and the MoCA.

RESULTS Regressions revealed significant effects of age, gender, and SPACE tasks. No risk factors for dementia predicted MoCA scores. The factor analysis revealed that MoCA and perspective taking contributed to a separate factor from other navigation tasks in SPACE. Normative data for SPACE are provided.

DISCUSSION Our findings highlight the importance of navigation tasks for cognitive assessment and the early detection of cognitive impairment.

Original language	English
Type	Preprint article
Media of output	Preprint article
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.12.24315402
State	In preparation - 14 Oct 2024
Externally published	Yes

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@misc{ff69edbead1f406c97af7ba0c7fc2338,

title = "Beyond Traditional Assessments of Cognitive Impairment: Exploring the Potential of Spatial Navigation Tasks",

abstract = "INTRODUCTION Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease affects spatial abilities that are often overlooked in standard cognitive screening tools. We assessed whether the spatial navigation tasks in the Spatial Performance Assessment for Cognitive Evaluation (SPACE) can complement existing tools such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). METHODS 348 participants aged 21-76 completed the MoCA, SPACE, and sociodemographic- health questionnaires. Regressions were used to predict MoCA scores with risk factors and SPACE tasks as predictors. We also conducted a factor analysis to investigate the relationships among SPACE tasks and the MoCA. RESULTS Regressions revealed significant effects of age, gender, and SPACE tasks. No risk factors for dementia predicted MoCA scores. The factor analysis revealed that MoCA and perspective taking contributed to a separate factor from other navigation tasks in SPACE. Normative data for SPACE are provided. DISCUSSION Our findings highlight the importance of navigation tasks for cognitive assessment and the early detection of cognitive impairment.",

author = "Giorgio Colombo and Karolina Minta and Tyler Thrash and Jascha Gr{\"u}bel and Jan Wiener and Marios Avraamides and Christoph H{\"o}lscher and Schinazi, \{Victor R.\}",

year = "2024",

month = oct,

day = "14",

doi = "10.1101/2024.10.12.24315402",

language = "English",

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TY - GEN

T1 - Beyond Traditional Assessments of Cognitive Impairment: Exploring the Potential of Spatial Navigation Tasks

AU - Colombo, Giorgio

AU - Minta, Karolina

AU - Thrash, Tyler

AU - Grübel, Jascha

AU - Wiener, Jan

AU - Avraamides, Marios

AU - Hölscher, Christoph

AU - Schinazi, Victor R.

PY - 2024/10/14

Y1 - 2024/10/14

N2 - INTRODUCTION Alzheimer’s disease affects spatial abilities that are often overlooked in standard cognitive screening tools. We assessed whether the spatial navigation tasks in the Spatial Performance Assessment for Cognitive Evaluation (SPACE) can complement existing tools such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). METHODS 348 participants aged 21-76 completed the MoCA, SPACE, and sociodemographic- health questionnaires. Regressions were used to predict MoCA scores with risk factors and SPACE tasks as predictors. We also conducted a factor analysis to investigate the relationships among SPACE tasks and the MoCA. RESULTS Regressions revealed significant effects of age, gender, and SPACE tasks. No risk factors for dementia predicted MoCA scores. The factor analysis revealed that MoCA and perspective taking contributed to a separate factor from other navigation tasks in SPACE. Normative data for SPACE are provided. DISCUSSION Our findings highlight the importance of navigation tasks for cognitive assessment and the early detection of cognitive impairment.

AB - INTRODUCTION Alzheimer’s disease affects spatial abilities that are often overlooked in standard cognitive screening tools. We assessed whether the spatial navigation tasks in the Spatial Performance Assessment for Cognitive Evaluation (SPACE) can complement existing tools such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). METHODS 348 participants aged 21-76 completed the MoCA, SPACE, and sociodemographic- health questionnaires. Regressions were used to predict MoCA scores with risk factors and SPACE tasks as predictors. We also conducted a factor analysis to investigate the relationships among SPACE tasks and the MoCA. RESULTS Regressions revealed significant effects of age, gender, and SPACE tasks. No risk factors for dementia predicted MoCA scores. The factor analysis revealed that MoCA and perspective taking contributed to a separate factor from other navigation tasks in SPACE. Normative data for SPACE are provided. DISCUSSION Our findings highlight the importance of navigation tasks for cognitive assessment and the early detection of cognitive impairment.

U2 - 10.1101/2024.10.12.24315402

DO - 10.1101/2024.10.12.24315402

M3 - Other contribution

ER -

Beyond Traditional Assessments of Cognitive Impairment: Exploring the Potential of Spatial Navigation Tasks

Abstract (may include machine translation)

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