An Evaluation of the Validity of Spatial Navigation Tasks for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease: A Pilot Study

Objective: The present study aimed to design and evaluate series of novel computerised measures of spatial navigation for use as cognitive screening measures of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Tasks were designed so as to limit additional test taker burden and to be accessible to a wide cross-section of assessing clinicians with the hope of future integration into the digital version of the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (ACEMobile). Method: The study adopted a retrospective diagnostic accuracy design, comparing the performance of 12 participants with AD to 10 healthy older adults on the novel measures of spatial navigation. Results: Promising results were obtained, suggesting that measures of object-location binding effectively discriminate between participants with AD and healthy older adults. Further, the results suggest notable effect sizes for tests of route learning and route planning. Further research is required to further evaluate the use of these measures. Conclusions: The results of the present study add further evidence to the utility of measures of spatial navigation in the diagnosis of AD. The present study also demonstrates that brief, accessible measures of spatial navigation are able to discriminate between individuals with AD and healthy older adults. Further research will be needed to develop these preliminary findings, with the hope of validating measures of spatial navigation to be integrated into routine clinical practice