TY  - JOUR
AU  - Merhav, Maayan
AU  - Wolbers, Thomas
TI  - Aging and spatial cues influence the updating of navigational memories.
JO  - Scientific reports
VL  - 9
IS  - 1
SN  - 2045-2322
CY  - [London]
PB  - Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature
M1  - DZNE-2020-07191
SP  - 11469
PY  - 2019
AB  - Updating navigational memories is important for everyday tasks. It was recently found that older adults are impaired in updating spatial representations in small, bi-dimensional layouts. Because performance in small-scale areas cannot predict navigational behavior, we investigated how aging affects the updating of navigational memories encoded in large, 3-dimensional environments. Moreover, since locations can be encoded relative to the observer (egocentric encoding) or relative to landmarks (allocentric encoding), we tested whether the presumed age-related spatial updating deficit depends on the available spatial cues. By combining whole-body motion tracking with immersive virtual reality, we could dissociate egocentric and allocentric spatial cues and assess navigational memory under ecologically valid conditions (i.e., providing body-based and visual cues). In the task, objects were relocated overnight, and young and older participants had to navigate to the updated locations of the objects. In addition to replicating age-related deficits in allocentric memory, we found age-related impairments in updating navigational memories following egocentric encoding. Finally, older participants depicted stronger representations of the previous navigational context that were correlated with their spatial updating deficits. Given that these effects may stem from inefficient suppression of former navigational memories, our findings propose a mechanism that helps explain the navigational decline in aging.
KW  - Age Factors
KW  - Aged
KW  - Aging: physiology
KW  - Cognitive Dysfunction: diagnosis
KW  - Cognitive Dysfunction: physiopathology
KW  - Cues
KW  - Female
KW  - Humans
KW  - Male
KW  - Space Perception: physiology
KW  - Spatial Memory: physiology
KW  - Spatial Navigation: physiology
KW  - Virtual Reality
KW  - Young Adult
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - pmid:31391574
C2  - pmc:PMC6686023
DO  - DOI:10.1038/s41598-019-47971-2
UR  - https://pub.dzne.de/record/140869
ER  -