Early Warning: Does Your Walking Style Signal Alzheimer’s?

A new research suggests that people in the initial phases of Alzheimer's disease might struggle with changing direction when walking, providing the instruction as the The illness seems to be increasing. . Researchers from University College London (UCL) employed virtual reality to identify navigational mishaps in people exhibiting initial signs of the illness , with the goal of creating simple diagnostic tests.

Published in Current Biology, the study involved 31 young healthy participants, 36 older healthy adults, and 43 patients with mild cognitive impairment. Using virtual reality headsets, participants were tasked with navigating a path marked by numbered cones, which included two straight segments joined by a turn, and then returning to the start without guidance.

The exercise took place across three distinct scenarios. The results showed that those with early Alzheimer's tended to overestimate the turns and showed more inconsistency in their directional orientation, reports Surrey Live .

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Dr. Andrea Castegnaro from the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, who co-authored the study, spoke about its conclusions in 2023 after it was completed, emphasizing that problems with navigation often appear as an initial symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. “The contribution we made is identifying particular elements within navigational abilities that become notably impaired,” he stated.

Scientists have achieved a remarkable breakthrough in detecting early stages of Alzheimer’s disease; people at this stage often greatly misjudge the angles of turns they attempt and display substantial inconsistencies in navigating directions. Specifically, the study revealed that those with early Alzheimer's frequently overestimated the required turns along a path and demonstrated greater fluctuations in their navigational skills. To put it differently, when asked to execute specific turning actions, these individuals believed they had completed far larger rotations compared to what was actually performed.

By incorporating comparisons with healthy older individuals into their research, scientists have concluded that these navigational challenges do not simply represent intensified signs of typical age-related changes but are distinctive to Alzheimer’s disease. “What's crucial here is that by involving healthy seniors in our study, we discovered these particular elements aren’t just part of regular aging—which we already knew involves some decline in navigating skills—and instead seem more specifically tied to Alzheimer's disease.” However, it should be noted that these conclusions are preliminary, and further work is being done to validate them.

Dr. Castegnaro highlighted the implications of this revelation for medical practice: "Our findings offer a new avenue for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease by focusing on specific navigational errors. We aim to develop practical tests that can be easily integrated into clinical settings, considering common constraints such as limited space and time."

Underpinning the significance of these advancements, Dr. Leah Mursaleen from Alzheimer's Research UK emphasized the urgent need for improved diagnostic methods. "There are nearly one million people living with Alzheimer's in the UK, but thanks to limitations in current methods of detection, only around 60% of them will ever receive a diagnosis. So, it's vital that we develop new, more precise early detection techniques that can be easily used in healthcare systems like the NHS."

She expanded on the importance of impending technological developments, saying: "This will be particularly crucial as we transition into an epoch where dementia becomes a treatable condition. Thanks to advances in technology, a wide range of devices and platforms are being explored to see if they have the potential to detect early signs of neurological diseases like Alzheimer's."

Regarding recent scientific inquiries, she remarked: "This small, early-stage study looks at using a virtual reality environment to analyse the way people turn while walking. The results suggest this can detect differences in participants with early Alzheimer's disease."

However, Dr. Mursaleen tempered expectations concerning the study's findings by pointing out: "However, as the group included fewer than 50 people, a larger study is needed to understand the future potential of this promising discovery. It will also be important to understand how digital technologies like this can be used in combination with other emerging techniques like blood tests, which are also showing huge promise for detecting Alzheimer's disease."

The Alzheimer's Society commented on the challenges of detecting dementia early on, stating: "Getting a diagnosis for dementia can be difficult for a multitude of reasons, and we know that very early symptoms can be subtle and hard to detect. However, problems with navigation are thought to be some of the earliest noticeable changes in Alzheimer's disease, so this is valuable insight. Though this technology is in its infancy and work is needed to improve its accuracy, it may offer a way to detect disease-specific brain changes in the early stages of dementia, potentially benefiting hundreds of thousands living with the condition in the future."