Department of Human Science, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy.
J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2011 Jan 31;8:6. doi: 10.1186/1743-0003-8-6.
To go from one place to another, we routinely generate internal representations of surrounding spaces, which can include egocentric (body-centred) and allocentric (world-centred) coordinates, combined into route and survey representations.Recent studies have shown how both egocentric and allocentric representations exist in parallel and are joined to support behaviour according to the task.Our study investigated the transfer from survey (map-like) to route representations in healthy and brain-damaged subjects. The aim was two-fold: first, to understand how this ability could change with age in a sample of healthy participants, aged from 40 to 71 years old; second, to investigate how it is affected after a brain lesion in a 8 patients' sample, with reference to specific neuropsychological frames.
Participants were first required to perform the paper and pencil version of eight mazes, then to translate the map-like paths into egocentric routes, in order to find the right way into equivalent Virtual Reality (VR) mazes.Patients also underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation, including a specific investigation of some topographical orientation components.
As regards the healthy sample, we found age-related deterioration in VR task performance. While education level and gender were not found to be related to performance, global cognitive level (Mini Mental State Examination), previous experience with computer and fluidity of navigation into the VR appeared to influence VR task results.Considering the clinical sample, there was a difficulty in performing the VR Maze task; executive functions and visuo-spatial abilities deficits appeared to be more relevant for predicting patients' results.
Our study suggests the importance of developing tools aimed at investigating the survey to route transfer ability in both healthy elderly and clinical samples, since this skill seems high cognitive demanding and sensitive to cognitive decline.Human-computer interaction issues should be considered in employing new technologies, such as VR environments, with elderly subjects and neurological patients.
为了从一个地方到达另一个地方，我们通常会生成周围空间的内部表示，其中包括以自我为中心（以身体为中心）和以世界为中心（以世界为中心）的坐标，这些坐标组合成路线和调查表示。最近的研究表明，以自我为中心和以世界为中心的表示形式如何并行存在，并结合起来根据任务支持行为。我们的研究调查了健康和脑损伤受试者从调查（地图样）到路线表示的转移。目的有两个：首先，了解健康参与者样本中这种能力如何随年龄变化；其次，研究在 8 名患者样本中，如何在大脑损伤后受到影响，并参考特定的神经心理学框架。
参与者首先需要执行八迷宫的纸笔版本，然后将地图样路径转换为以自我为中心的路线，以便找到通往等效虚拟现实（VR）迷宫的正确路线。患者还接受了全面的神经心理学评估，包括对某些地形定向成分的特定调查。
关于健康样本，我们发现 VR 任务表现随年龄的恶化。虽然教育水平和性别与表现无关，但总体认知水平（简易精神状态检查）、以前使用计算机的经验和进入 VR 的流畅性似乎会影响 VR 任务的结果。考虑到临床样本，执行 VR 迷宫任务存在困难；执行功能和视觉空间能力缺陷似乎更能预测患者的结果。
我们的研究表明，开发旨在调查健康老年人和临床样本的调查到路线转换能力的工具非常重要，因为这种技能似乎需要高认知能力并且对认知能力下降敏感。在使用虚拟现实环境等新技术与老年受试者和神经科患者进行交互时，应考虑人机交互问题。
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