Getting Lost: Why Older People Might Lose Their Way

A study from researchers at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Disease (DZNE) published in Current Biology may explain why seniors sometimes have problems with spatial orientation, reports ScienceDaily . The team conducted experiments with 41 healthy individuals who were split into a cohort of 20 "young adults" and 21 "older adults" between 63 and 81 years old. One test combined functional brain imaging and virtual reality where participants had to navigate through a computer-generated scenery while their brain activity was monitored. A second experiment tested the ability for "path integration" and had participants move along predefined curved paths. At intermediate stops they were required to estimate their distance and orientation relative to their starting point, without being able to see or pinpoint its location. "We found an association between decreased navigational performance and deficits in grid cell activity," says DZNE Professor Thomas Wolbers. "Grid cells fired differently when comparing young and old adults. Specifically, firing patterns were less stable over time in older individuals, which indicates that these brain circuits are compromised in old age." Declining navigational capability is seen as an early symptoms of Alzheimer's.