The Effects of Cognitive Map Building on the Development of Alzheimer's Disease

项目摘要 在构建认知地图时进行定期的脑力锻炼是否可以延缓阿尔茨海默病（AD）的发作， 减缓AD的进展阿尔茨海默病（AD）的神经病理学始于内嗅神经系统， 皮质，导致空间导航障碍，区分轻度认知障碍患者 (MCI)和老年人的AD。具体地，MCI和AD患者遭受能力下降， 以他者为中心的导航，需要开发一个认知地图（又名心理地图）作为内部表示 指环境中的地点和特征与人的当前位置或方向无关。制度 海马结构中的空间细胞通过网格的空间周期性帮助认知地图的构建， 细胞发射场，形成大脑的公制坐标系，用于非中心导航。研究表明 在θ振荡减少的时期，网格单元会逐渐失去它们的空间周期性， 海马失活构建认知地图的心理练习是否会激发θ振荡， 海马激活和加强网格细胞放电场的空间周期性？结构脑的发现 伦敦出租车司机和空间信息检索的变化支持这种兴奋的潜力， 方面的影响.此外，关于后顶叶皮层（PPC）在信息储存和提取中的作用， 以及这个区域如何随着AD而变化。 这项研究假设，定期进行认知地图构建的心理练习可以唤起 这种兴奋作用延迟AD发作和减缓AD进展。在这个探索性的建议中，我们 探索地理环境、以他者为中心的导航、认知地图和AD之间的联系 发展：更复杂的环境对认知地图提出了更高的要求， 日常通勤和日常差事，以及频繁的构建和检索认知地图的心理练习 导致空间认知相关灰质区域保留，从而阻止AD 发展我们将使用来自国家阿尔茨海默氏症协调中心（NACC）和美国 健康和退休研究（HRS），分别（1）比较地理区域的MCI/AD人群， 不同程度的环境复杂性和（2）调查MCI/AD人群的职业， 高度依赖认知地图，如房地产经纪人，警察，第一反应者，和其他 职业。NACC数据库包含参与者的3位邮政编码和居住类型， 允许MCI/AD映射到美国各地的潜在社区，而HRS限制数据包括 街道级的职业数据和交叉波地理信息。探索性项目的结果 将支持后续的实验研究，以模拟灰质体积的作用，完善研究 环境复杂性和认知映射对MCI/AD发展的兴奋作用的框架， 并研究GPS导航设备的潜在MCI/AD功能。

PROJECT SUMMARY Can regular mental exercises in building cognitive maps delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or decelerate the progression of AD? The neuropathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) begins in the entorhinal cortex, leading to spatial navigation impairment that differentiates patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD from healthy aging adults. Specifically, MCI and AD patients suffer declining abilities to allocentric navigation that requires developing a cognitive map (aka mental map) as an internal representation of the environment with places and features independent of one’s current location or orientation. A system of spatial cells in the hippocampal formation subserves cognitive map building with the spatial periodicity of grid- cell firing fields to form the brain’s metric coordinate system for allocentric navigation. Studies showed that grid cells could gradually lose their spatial periodicity during periods of reduced theta oscillations and hippocampal inactivation. Will mental exercises in building cognitive maps excite theta oscillations and hippocampal activation and strengthen spatial periodicity of grid-cell firing fields? Findings of structural brain changes in London taxi drivers and spatial information retrieval support the potential of such excitatory effects. Further, less is known about the role of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in the storage and retrieval of cognitive maps, and how this region changes with AD. The proposed study hypothesizes that regular mental exercises on cognitive map building can evoke such excitatory effects to delay AD onset and decelerate AD progression. In this exploratory proposal, we venture into the links amongst geographic environments, allocentric navigation, cognitive maps, and AD development: a more complex environment imposes a higher demand on cognitive maps to navigate even on daily commutes and routine errands, and frequent mental exercises of building and retrieving cognitive maps lead to preservation of spatial cognition relevant gray matter regions and consequently impede AD development. We will use data from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) and US-based Health and Retirement Study (HRS), respectively (1) to compare MCI/AD populations in geographic areas with varying degrees of environmental complexity and (2) to investigate MCI/AD populations with occupations of high dependency on cognitive maps, such as realtors, police officers, first responders, and the other occupations. The NACC databases contain participant’s 3-digit zip-codes and types of residence which will allow MCI/AD mapping to potential neighborhoods across the US, whereas HRS restricted data include occupation data and cross-wave geographic information at street-level. Findings from the exploratory project will support subsequent experimental research to model the role of gray matter volume, refine the research framework of the excitatory effects of environment complexity and cognitive mapping to MCI/AD development, and examine the potential MCI/AD detriments of GPS-enabled navigation devices.