If you have trouble finding your way around when visiting a new city, it may be an early indication of Alzheimer’s disease.
Worsening of the ability to create a mental map goes hand in hand with changes in the brain that researchers believe are the early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, according to research from Washington University in St. Louis.
Researchers asked three groups of people to learn their way around a virtual maze on a computer. The maze was divided into areas with four different wallpaper colors and it had 20 landmarks.
The first group consisted of 16 people with documented behavioral symptoms of early stage Alzheimer’s.
The second group of 13 people didn’t exhibit symptoms of Alzheimer’s, but in the fluid taken from the spine and brain they had biomarkers that scientists believe make them likely to develop Alzheimer’s.
The third group of 42 had no signs of Alzheimer’s whatsoever.
