Unmasking selective path integration deficits in Alzheimer's disease risk carriers.

ABSTRACT: Alzheimer's disease (AD) manifests with progressive memory loss and spatial disorientation. Neuropathological studies suggest early AD pathology in the entorhinal cortex (EC) of young adults at genetic risk for AD (APOE ε4-carriers). Because the EC harbors grid cells, a likely neural substrate of path integration (PI), we examined PI performance in APOE ε4-carriers during a virtual navigation task. We report a selective impairment in APOE ε4-carriers specifically when recruitment of compensatory navigational strategies via supportive spatial cues was disabled. A separate fMRI study revealed that PI performance was associated with the strength of entorhinal grid-like representations when no compensatory strategies were available, suggesting grid cell dysfunction as a me

SUBMITTER: Bierbrauer A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7455192 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature