Photo Credit: Jorm Sangsorn

The following is a summary of “A clinical 3D pointing test differentiates spatial memory deficits in dementia and bilateral vestibular failure,” published in the February 2024 issue of Neurology by Gerb et al.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess the reliability of a 3D-Real-World Pointing Test (3D-RWPT) in differentiating patients with cognitive impairment, bilateral vestibulopathy, or both from healthy participants.

They conducted the 3D-RWPT with a static array of targets before and after a 90-degree body rotation around the yaw axis. Three patient groups were included, individuals with chronic bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP) and normal cognition (n = 32), those with cognitive impairment and normal vestibular function (n = 28), and participants with both BVP and cognitive impairment (n = 9). The control group comprised age-matched individuals (HP) without cognitive or vestibular deficits (n = 67). The analysis focused on the mean angular deviation of pointing in the azimuth and polar spatial planes preferred pointing strategy and resulting shape configuration relative to the stimulus array. Statistical methods included age-corrected ANCOVA testing with Bonferroni correction and Spearman’s rho for correlation analysis.

The results showed patients with cognitive impairment favored egocentric pointing strategies, whereas those with BVP but ordinary cognition and HP preferred world-based solutions (pBonf 5.78 × 10-3^**). Pointing accuracy discrepancies were observed only in the azimuth plane, with patients with cognitive impairment exhibiting reduced accuracy during transformation tasks (pBonf < 0.001^***) and those with BVP struggling in post-rotation tasks (pBonf < 0.001^***). While some patients with BVP maintained adequate azimuth pointing performance, it significantly declined when coupled with cognitive deficits.

Investigators concluded that 3D-RWPT identified disrupted spatial memory/pointing in cognitive & vestibular patients, with combined deficits showing the worst impairment.

Source: bmcneurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12883-024-03569-4