Page 40 - AN-1-2

Advanced Neurology

REVIEW ARTICLE
Neuroimaging associations with spatial

navigation impairment in Alzheimer’s disease
continuum: A narrative review

5,6
Qian Chen 1,2,3† , Futao Chen 2,3,4† , Cong Long 2,3,4† , Jiaming Lu 2,3,4 , Jiu Chen ,
8,9
8,9
Jun Chen , Zuzana Nedelska , Jakub Hort , and Bing Zhang 1,2,3,4,10,11 *
7
1 Department of Radiology, Drum Tower Hospital, Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University,
Nanjing, China
2 Medical Imaging Center, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University
3 Institute of Medical Imaging and Artificial Intelligence, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
4 Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School,
Nanjing, China
5 Institute of Neuropsychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
6 Institute of Brain Functional Imaging, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
7 Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
nd
8 Memory Clinic, Department of Neurology, 2 Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, University
Hospital Motol, Prague, Czechia
9 International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czechia
10 Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Nanjing, China
11 Institute of Brain Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

† These authors contributed equally
to this work.
*Corresponding author: Abstract
Bing Zhang (zhangbing_nanjing@
nju.edu.cn) Identifying individuals with incipient Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are critical for early
Citation: Chen Q, Chen F, and targeted intervention before the dementia develops as AD progresses. Recently,
Long C, et al., 2022, Neuroimaging emerging data have suggested that spatial navigation and neuroimaging could be
associations with spatial navigation
impairment in Alzheimer’s disease utilized to identify individuals with prodromal AD. Compared to episodic memory,
continuum: A narrative review. Adv spatial navigation has fewer cultural and educational discrepancies and could serve as
Neuro, 1(2): 145. a promising marker for diagnosis and outcome measures in multicenter longitudinal
https://doi.org/10.36922/an.v1i2.145 studies with large cohorts. Furthermore, neuroimaging studies have contributed to
Received: July 1, 2022 our understanding of the structural and functional neural basis underlying spatial
Accepted: July 29, 2022 navigation and provided sensitive and non-invasive neuroimaging markers. The
current review summarizes neuroimaging associations with spatial navigation
Published Online: August 30, 2022 impairment in the AD continuum, their potential pathophysiological mechanisms,
Copyright: © 2022 Author(s). and nonpharmacological interventions for spatial navigation impairments. We
This is an Open Access article highlight the promising role of spatial navigation in the early identification of the
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution preclinical and prodromal patients with potential risk of developing AD dementia.
License, permitting distribution, Multicenter large-scale longitudinal studies on patients across the AD continuum
and reproduction in any medium, coupled with a standardized routine assessment of spatial navigation abilities in
provided the original work is
properly cited. clinical settings are needed. This review may have implications for clinical practice
and future research directions.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Keywords: Spatial navigation; Alzheimer’s disease; Neuroimaging; Functional connectivity
affiliations.

Volume 1 Issue 2 (2022) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/an.v1i2.145