%0 Journal Article %J J Alzheimers Dis %D 2021 %T Egocentric and Allocentric Spatial Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment with Real-World and Virtual Navigation Tasks: A Systematic Review. %A Tuena, Cosimo %A Mancuso, Valentina %A Stramba-Badiale, Chiara %A Pedroli, Elisa %A Stramba-Badiale, Marco %A Riva, Giuseppe %A Repetto, Claudia %K Alzheimer Disease %K Cognitive Dysfunction %K Humans %K Spatial Memory %K Spatial Navigation %X

BACKGROUND: Spatial navigation is the ability to estimate one's position on the basis of environmental and self-motion cues. Spatial memory is the cognitive substrate underlying navigation and relies on two different reference frames: egocentric and allocentric. These spatial frames are prone to decline with aging and impairment is even more pronounced in Alzheimer's disease (AD) or in mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a systematic review of experimental studies investigating which MCI population and tasks are used to evaluate spatial memory and how allocentric and egocentric deficits are impaired in MCI after navigation.

METHODS: PRISMA and PICO guidelines were applied to carry out the systematic search. Down and Black checklist was used to assess methodological quality.

RESULTS: Our results showed that amnestic MCI and AD pathology are the most investigated typologies; both egocentric and allocentric memory are impaired in MCI individuals, and MCI due to AD biomarkers has specific encoding and retrieval impairments; secondly, spatial navigation is principally investigated with the hidden goal task (virtual and real-world version), and among studies involving virtual reality, the privileged setting consists of non-immersive technology; thirdly, despite subtle differences, real-world and virtual versions showed good overlap for the assessment of MCI spatial memory.

CONCLUSION: Considering that MCI is a subclinical entity with potential risk for conversion to dementia, investigating spatial memory deficits with navigation tasks might be crucial to make accurate diagnosis and rehabilitation.

%B J Alzheimers Dis %V 79 %P 95-116 %8 2021 %G eng %N 1 %1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33216034?dopt=Abstract %R 10.3233/JAD-201017