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Open Access 01-04-2023 | Original Article

An Appraisal of the Role of the Neocerebellum for Spatial Navigation in Healthy Aging

Authors: Stephen Ramanoël, Marion Durteste, Victor Perot, Christophe Habas, Angelo Arleo

Published in: The Cerebellum | Issue 2/2023

Abstract

Spatial navigation is an intricate ability, requiring multisensory and motor integration, that is particularly impacted in aging. The age-related decline in navigational capabilities is known to be associated with changes in brain regions such as the frontal, temporal, and cerebellar cortices. Age-related cerebellar differences in spatial navigation have generally been ascribed to motor impairments, omitting the central role of this structure in several cognitive processes. In the present voxel-based morphometric study, we investigated gray matter volume loss in older adults across cognitive and motor subregions of the cerebellum. Specifically, we hypothesized that age-related gray matter differences would occur mainly in cerebellar regions involved in cognitive processing. Our results showed a significant age-related atrophy in the left neocerebellum of healthy older adults that includes Crus I and lobule VI. The latter are important nodes in the network that subtends cognitive abilities such as object recognition and spatial cognition. This exploratory work sets the ground for future research to investigate the extent of the neocerebellum’s contribution to spatial navigation deficits in aging.

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Title: An Appraisal of the Role of the Neocerebellum for Spatial Navigation in Healthy Aging
Authors: Stephen Ramanoël
Marion Durteste
Victor Perot
Christophe Habas
Angelo Arleo
Publication date: 01-04-2023
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: The Cerebellum / Issue 2/2023
Print ISSN: 1473-4222
Electronic ISSN: 1473-4230
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-022-01389-1

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An Appraisal of the Role of the Neocerebellum for Spatial Navigation in Healthy Aging

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