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Journal of Neurology
Published in: Journal of Neurology 1/2021

01-01-2021 | Multiple Sclerosis | Original Communication

Spatial navigation in early multiple sclerosis: a neglected cognitive marker of the disease?

Authors: Eva Němá, Adam Kalina, Tomáš Nikolai, Martin Vyhnálek, Eva Meluzínová, Jan Laczó

Published in: Journal of Neurology | Issue 1/2021

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Abstract

Background

Cognitive deficits are common in early multiple sclerosis (MS), however, spatial navigation changes and their associations with brain pathology remain poorly understood.

Objective

To characterize the profile of spatial navigation changes in two main navigational strategies, egocentric (self-centred) and allocentric (world-centred), and their associations with demyelinating and neurodegenerative changes in early MS.

Methods

Participants with early MS after the first clinical event (n = 51) and age-, gender- and education-matched controls (n = 42) underwent spatial navigation testing in a real-space human analogue of the Morris water maze task, comprehensive neuropsychological assessment, and MRI brain scan with voxel-based morphometry and volumetric analyses.

Results

The early MS group had lower performance in the egocentric (p = 0.010), allocentric (p = 0.004) and allocentric-delayed (p = 0.038) navigation tasks controlling for age, gender and education. Based on the applied criteria, lower spatial navigation performance was present in 26–29 and 33–41% of the participants with early MS in the egocentric and the allocentric task, respectively. Larger lesion load volume in cortical, subcortical and cerebellar regions (ß ≥ 0.29; p ≤ 0.032) unlike brain atrophy was associated with less accurate allocentric navigation performance.

Conclusion

Lower spatial navigation performance is present in up to 41% of the participants with early MS. Demyelinating lesions in early MS may disrupt neural network forming the basis of allocentric navigation.
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Metadata
Title
Spatial navigation in early multiple sclerosis: a neglected cognitive marker of the disease?
Authors
Eva Němá
Adam Kalina
Tomáš Nikolai
Martin Vyhnálek
Eva Meluzínová
Jan Laczó
Publication date
01-01-2021
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Journal of Neurology / Issue 1/2021
Print ISSN: 0340-5354
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1459
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-020-10079-z

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