% IMPORTANT: The following is UTF-8 encoded.  This means that in the presence
% of non-ASCII characters, it will not work with BibTeX 0.99 or older.
% Instead, you should use an up-to-date BibTeX implementation like “bibtex8” or
% “biber”.

@INPROCEEDINGS{Marquardt:283081,
      author       = {Marquardt, Jonas and Vockert, Niklas and Behrenbruch,
                      Niklas and Schumann-Werner, Beate and Hochkeppler, Anne and
                      Buechel, Anna-Therese and Molloy, Eóin N. and Schwarck,
                      Svenja and Fischer, Larissa and Incesoy, Enise I. and
                      Garcia-Garcia, Berta and Mattern, Hendrik and Marcos
                      Morgado, Barbara and Esselmann, Hermann and Stephens, Andrew
                      W. and Schildan, Andreas and Barthel, Henryk and Sabri,
                      Osama and Wiltfang, Jens and Kreissl, Michael C. and Düzel,
                      Emrah and Kuehn, Esther and Schreiber, Stefanie and Maass,
                      Anne and Diersch, Nadine},
      title        = {{H}ippocampal vascularization is associated with greater
                      efficiency during a remote real world wayfinding training in
                      older adults},
      journal      = {Alzheimer's and dementia},
      volume       = {21},
      number       = {S6},
      issn         = {1552-5260},
      reportid     = {DZNE-2025-01488},
      pages        = {e105004},
      year         = {2025},
      abstract     = {Background:Alzheimer's Disease (AD) pathology accumulates
                      early in the medial temporal lobe (MTL), crucial for spatial
                      navigation. As spatial navigation is among the first
                      cognitive functions affected by AD, it may benefit from
                      targeted behavioral interventions. We investigated the
                      potential of a novel smartphone-assisted real-world
                      wayfinding training, tailored for healthy older adults, to
                      improve their spatial abilities and explored associations
                      with hippocampal vascularization and AD biomarkers.Method:
                      38 cognitively healthy older adults (62–84 years; 18
                      females) participated in a 3-week navigation training, using
                      our smartphone application “Explore” (Figure 1).
                      Training involved finding several locations displayed on a
                      map in the medical campus area of Magdeburg, Germany, while
                      GPS data were recorded. Pre- and post-training, participants
                      underwent fMRI, performed a pointing task in a virtual
                      campus version, and completed the VWLT. At pre-assessment,
                      AD pathology was characterized by plasma sampling
                      (Abeta1-42/1-40, Ptau217) and [18F]PI-2620 PET in a
                      subsample. Hippocampal vascularization was assessed by 7T
                      angiography. Performance in the virtual pointing task and a
                      map drawing test was compared to a control group (n = 20)
                      who performed a walking task of equal length without a
                      navigational component. Additionally, changes in different
                      mobile wayfinding performance indicators and their
                      associations with AD biomarkers and hippocampal
                      vascularization (i.e., mean distance of hippocampus to
                      surrounding vessels) were examined.Result: Performance in
                      the pointing task and map drawing, but not in the VWLT (p =
                      .321), significantly improved due to the training (all p <
                      .001; Figure 2A C). The control group showed no improvements
                      in navigation. Training benefits were also evident in the
                      mobile data (all p ≤.017; Figure 3A-E). Better wayfinding
                      efficiency was associated with less vessel distance to
                      hippocampus, r=.44, p = .012, and the number of orientation
                      stops was negatively related to pTau217, r=-.38, p = .019
                      (Figure 3F).Conclusion: We provide evidence that a remotely
                      administered real-world wayfinding training enhances
                      wayfinding abilities and improves spatial memory in older
                      adults. Importantly, hippocampal vascularization may benefit
                      wayfinding efficiency. Higher pTau217 was related to fewer
                      orientation stops during navigation. As a next step,
                      potential mediating effects between vascularization and AD
                      pathology on wayfinding performance will be investigated.},
      month         = {Jul},
      date          = {2025-07-27},
      organization  = {Alzheimer’s Association
                       International Conference, Toronto
                       (Canada), 27 Jul 2025 - 31 Jul 2025},
      cin          = {AG Maaß / AG Düzel / AG Schreiber / AG Wiltfang / Core MR
                      PET / AG Gasser},
      ddc          = {610},
      cid          = {I:(DE-2719)1311001 / I:(DE-2719)5000006 /
                      I:(DE-2719)1310010 / I:(DE-2719)1410006 / I:(DE-2719)1340016
                      / I:(DE-2719)1210000},
      pnm          = {353 - Clinical and Health Care Research (POF4-353) / 899 -
                      ohne Topic (POF4-899)},
      pid          = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-353 / G:(DE-HGF)POF4-899},
      typ          = {PUB:(DE-HGF)1 / PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
      doi          = {10.1002/alz70860_105004},
      url          = {https://pub.dzne.de/record/283081},
}