Loryn Davidson
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Benjamin Hampstead
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Department of Psychiatry / Medicine
Program: UROPF
Session: Session 1 (9:00am – 9:50am)
Authors: Sophia Meguid, Loryn Davidson, Alexandru Iordan, Benjamin Hampstead
Abstract
Our project evaluates the relationship between baseline cognitive performance and changes in spatial navigation ability following high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS). We used data from a larger study that investigated the effects of HD-tDCS on spatial navigation in healthy controls and individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Here, we examined the relationship between a composite measure of cognitive performance and changes in allocentric and egocentric spatial navigation following HD-tDCS. We hypothesized that baseline cognitive performance will be associated with improvements in spatial navigation due to HD-tDCS. Our results suggest that there is a positive relationship between the neuropsychological aggregate and improvement in spatial navigation (allocentric or egocentric), although it did not reach statistical significance. The positive relationship is stronger for allocentric spatial navigation than for egocentric spatial navigation. Further exploration revealed statistically significant evidence that baseline performance on Trails B predicts egocentric task improvement from tDCS. An improvement in spatial navigation in individuals with MCI could help maintain independence, safety, sense of purpose, and quality of life.
