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Spatial memory assessment reveals age-related differences in egocentric and allocentric memory performance.

Cristina Fernandez-Baizan¹, Jorge L Arias¹, Marta Mendez¹

¹Instituto de Neurociencias del Principado de Asturias (INEUROPA). Faculty of Psychology, Plaza Feijoo s/n, 33003, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain; Department of Psychology. University of Oviedo. Faculty of Psychology, Plaza Feijoo s/n, 33003, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain.

Behavioural Brain Research

|April 29, 2020

Summary

Older adults show declines in spatial memory compared to younger adults, particularly in egocentric navigation. However, older adults improved in allocentric spatial memory tasks with practice.

Keywords:

aging allocentric strategy egocentric strategy older adults spatial memory young adults

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Human Aging Research
Spatial Cognition

Background:

Humans utilize egocentric (self-centered) and allocentric (environment-centered) strategies for spatial navigation.
Aging is often associated with declines in spatial memory and navigation abilities.
Comparisons between egocentric and allocentric strategy performance in aging populations are limited, especially in real-world settings.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate and compare egocentric and allocentric spatial memory performance in young and older adults.
To investigate age-related differences in spatial memory using real-world, 3-D perception tasks.
To analyze the separate contributions of egocentric and allocentric strategies to spatial memory in different age groups.

Main Methods:

Recruited 28 young adults and 27 older adults for participation.
Administered real-environment tasks assessing egocentric and allocentric spatial memory.
Included CANTAB Spatial Span task for visuospatial span/working memory and Benton's Judge of Line Orientation Test for spatial relations judgment.

Main Results:

Younger adults demonstrated superior performance on overall spatial memory tasks compared to older adults.
Older adults showed improvement in allocentric spatial memory performance across task blocks.
Sex differences observed: Young men outperformed older men on both strategies, while young women only surpassed older women on allocentric tasks.

Conclusions:

Significant age-related differences exist in spatial memory, affecting both egocentric and allocentric navigation.
Allocentric spatial memory may be more resilient or improvable with practice in older adults compared to egocentric memory.
Findings highlight the impact of aging on distinct spatial memory strategies and suggest potential for targeted interventions.