Navigating the future: New tool for early signs of dementia
Cognitive decline can affect more than memory. It can also make it harder to navigate familiar places and find your way—including finding your way home from the supermarket.
Navigating cognitive decline: Researchers at Flinders University have developed a new tool to detect early signs of dementia, focusing on spatial navigation and memory difficulties. The Spatial Navigation and Memory (SPAM) Questionnaire, published in Alzheimer's & Dementia, aims to provide a more accessible and time-efficient method for clinical testing.
In a study involving 940 older adults, Flinders cognitive neuroscientists Dr. Monique Boord and Dr. Stephanie Wong found that the SPAM questionnaire effectively captures perceptions of spatial navigation and memory function both over a lifetime and in the past three months. Co-author Dr. Boord explained that while spatial navigation issues often precede memory loss in Alzheimer's disease, clinicians currently lack a structured way to assess these challenges.
By introducing the SPAM questionnaire, the research team hopes to help clinicians identify cognitive decline earlier and assist families in planning for their loved ones' safety. The SPAM questionnaire assesses two distinct but related aspects of cognitive function - spatial navigation and memory - and may serve as a practical tool for detecting cognitive aging.
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