THE EMERGENCE OF SPATIAL ROTATION DEFICITS IN DEMENTIA AND NORMAL AGING

The mental rotation required in the Road Map Test of Direction Sense ( the ''Road Map Test''; J. Money, 1976; J. Money, D. Alexander, & H. T. Walker, 1965) has been thought to be impaired as a function of age, b ut not dementia. However, spatial rotation ill dementia has not been i nvestigated in reference to spatial coordinate systems. Patients with dementia (Alzheimer's and ischemic vascular dementias) and elderly con trol participants were administered the Road Map Test. The authors ana lyzed whether the geocentric or egocentric coordinate system determine d rotation of Road Map Test turns and predicted impairment in dementia patients. They found equivalent impairment in both types of dementia, greater angulation effect in the geocentric system in patients relati ve to normal controls, and no egocentric effect. Results also suggest early emergence of spatial rotation deficit in dementia. Spatial rotat ion is most often associated with working memory, which predicts the c orrelations found.