Effects of age on virtual environment place navigation and allocentric cognitive mapping

This study assessed age differences in navigational behavior in a virtual Morris water maze (vMWM) and examined the ability of older adults to develop cognitive maps after vMWM experience. Compared with younger participants, older volunteers traversed a longer linear distance to locate the hidden platform. On the probe trial, younger volunteers spent a greater proportion of their total distance traveled in proximity to the platform and had more platform intersections. Analysis of map reproductions demonstrated that older participants used proximal objects to locate the goal but did not use room-geometry cues to aid navigation. These findings demonstrate age-related deficits on a laboratory measure of place learning and suggest that deficiencies in allocentric mapping may contribute to these deficits.