Age differences and spatial navigation in novel virtual and real world environments

Normal aging is associated with a decline in a number of cognitive abilities and numerous studies document the existence of age-related changes in human spatial cognition and behavior. Recent studies using virtual navigation paradigms have shown that performance on these tasks is correlated with performance on cognitive map-based way-finding tasks. While the use of virtual environments has made it possible to study navigation performance in a controlled setting, there is limited research that evaluates how performance on virtual navigation tasks translates to real-world allocentric navigation behavior. The broad aims of this study were to empirically evaluate changes in laboratory and real world navigation associated with normal aging and to help lay the foundation for establishing the ecological validity of virtual navigation tasks.;Twenty-three healthy adults age 20–35 and twenty-seven healthy community-dwelling adults age 65 and older took part in this study. We used a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house to develop an ecologically valid navigation task that was based on theories of allocentric spatial navigation, as well as computer task modeled after the Morris water maze. We investigated group differences in navigation abilities and the relationship between performance on real world and computer-generated navigation tasks. Additionally, each participant completed a neuropsychological test battery.;Consistent with previous findings, results from this study clearly demonstrated that overall, older adults do not navigate as effectively as younger adults in virtual or real world space. These data are consistent with theories that aging impairs the formation/retrieval of spatial maps of novel environments and spatial knowledge acquired from direct experience in the environment. Second, we were able to demonstrate the relationship between aging and poorer real world navigation performance was partially mediated by executive functioning. Third, while significant correlations exist between navigation in computer space and real space, results suggest that tasks with executive functioning demands are more powerful than computer navigation performance and age in predicting real world navigation.;Overall, the present report provides additional evidence that adults 65 years and older demonstrate poorer performance on virtual and real world tasks of spatial learning and memory than do their younger counterparts. This group difference appears to be markedly influenced by executive functioning. As a result, age-related changes in executive skills should be taken in consideration in future studies of spatial cognition. These data also confirm the feasibility of using a real world navigation task in adults over age 65 and emphasize the importance of utilizing real world measures for accurate assessment of cognitive functioning.