The contribution of virtual reality to the diagnosis of spatial navigation disorders and to the study of the role of navigational aids: A systematic literature review.

INTRODUCTION: Spatial navigation, which involves higher cognitive functions, is frequently implemented in daily activities, and is critical to the participation of human beings in mainstream environments. Virtual reality is an expanding tool, which enables on one hand the assessment of the cognitive functions involved in spatial navigation, and on the other the rehabilitation of patients with spatial navigation difficulties. Topographical disorientation is a frequent deficit among patients suffering from neurological diseases. The use of virtual environments enables the information incorporated into the virtual environment to be manipulated empirically. But the impact of manipulations seems differ according to their nature (quantity, occurrence, and characteristics of the stimuli) and the target population. METHODS: We performed a systematic review of research on virtual spatial navigation covering the period from 2005 to 2015. We focused first on the contribution of virtual spatial navigation for patients with brain injury or schizophrenia, or in the context of ageing and dementia, and then on the impact of visual or auditory stimuli on virtual spatial navigation. RESULTS: On the basis of 6521 abstracts identified in 2 databases (Pubmed and Scopus) with the keywords « navigation ¼ and « virtual ¼, 1103 abstracts were selected by adding the keywords "ageing", "dementia", "brain injury", "stroke", "schizophrenia", "aid", "help", "stimulus" and "cue"; Among these, 63 articles were included in the present qualitative analysis. CONCLUSION: Unlike pencil-and-paper tests, virtual reality is useful to assess large-scale navigation strategies in patients with brain injury or schizophrenia, or in the context of ageing and dementia. Better knowledge about both the impact of the different aids and the cognitive processes involved is essential for the use of aids in neurorehabilitation.

Everyday-like memory and its cognitive correlates in healthy older adults and in young patients with traumatic brain injury: a pilot study based on virtual reality.

UNLABELLED: PURPOSE STATE: A pilot-study with a comparison approach between aging and traumatic brain injury (TBI) is proposed to investigate everyday object memory patterns using a virtual HOMES test. METHODS: Sixteen young controls, 15 older adults and 15 TBI patients underwent the HOMES test and traditional tests. RESULTS: Older adults and TBI patients exhibited similar HOMES performances: poor recall, a greater recognition benefit, high false recognitions, but intact clustering and proactive interference effects. The age-related differences for HOMES measures were mainly mediated by executive functioning, while the HOMES performances in the TBI group were correlated with memory measures. CONCLUSION: The differential cognitive mediating effects for a similar everyday-like memory pattern are discussed by highlighting the need for more cautious interpretations of cognitive mechanisms behind similar behavioral patterns in different populations especially in clinical and rehabilitation settings.