TY - JOUR
T1 - The Virtual Morris Water Task in 64 Patients With Bilateral Vestibulopathy and the Impact of Hearing Status
AU - Dobbels, Bieke
AU - Mertens, Griet
AU - Gilles, Annick
AU - Moyaert, Julie
AU - van de Berg, Raymond
AU - Fransen, Erik
AU - Van de Heyning, Paul
AU - Van Rompaey, Vincent
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding. The Antwerp University Hospital and Maastricht University Medical Center have received research and travel grants from MED-EL. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2020 Dobbels, Mertens, Gilles, Moyaert, van de Berg, Fransen, Van de Heyning and Van Rompaey.
PY - 2020/8/11
Y1 - 2020/8/11
N2 - Background:Previous studies have demonstrated spatial cognitive deficits in patients with bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP). However, BVP patients frequently present with a concomitant sensorineural hearing loss, which is a well-established risk factor of cognitive impairment and incident dementia. Nonetheless, previous research on spatial cognitive deficits in BVP patients have not taken hearing status into account. Objective:This study aims to compare spatial cognition of BVP patients with healthy controls, with analyses adjusting for hearing status. Methods:Spatial cognition was assessed in 64 BVP patients and 46 healthy controls (HC) by use of the Virtual Morris Water Task (VMWT). All statistical analyses were adjusted for hearing (dys)function, sex, age, education, and computer use. Results:Overall, patients with BVP performed worse on all outcome measures of the VMWT. However, these differences between BVP patients and healthy controls were not statistically significant. Nonetheless, a statistically significant link between sensorineural hearing loss and spatial cognition was observed. The worse the hearing, the longer subjects took to reach the hidden platform in the VMWT. Furthermore, the worse the hearing, the less time was spent by the subjects in the correct platform quadrant during the probe trial of the VMWT. Conclusion:In this study, no difference was found regarding spatial cognition between BVP patients and healthy controls. However, a statistically significant link was observed between sensorineural hearing loss and spatial cognition.
AB - Background:Previous studies have demonstrated spatial cognitive deficits in patients with bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP). However, BVP patients frequently present with a concomitant sensorineural hearing loss, which is a well-established risk factor of cognitive impairment and incident dementia. Nonetheless, previous research on spatial cognitive deficits in BVP patients have not taken hearing status into account. Objective:This study aims to compare spatial cognition of BVP patients with healthy controls, with analyses adjusting for hearing status. Methods:Spatial cognition was assessed in 64 BVP patients and 46 healthy controls (HC) by use of the Virtual Morris Water Task (VMWT). All statistical analyses were adjusted for hearing (dys)function, sex, age, education, and computer use. Results:Overall, patients with BVP performed worse on all outcome measures of the VMWT. However, these differences between BVP patients and healthy controls were not statistically significant. Nonetheless, a statistically significant link between sensorineural hearing loss and spatial cognition was observed. The worse the hearing, the longer subjects took to reach the hidden platform in the VMWT. Furthermore, the worse the hearing, the less time was spent by the subjects in the correct platform quadrant during the probe trial of the VMWT. Conclusion:In this study, no difference was found regarding spatial cognition between BVP patients and healthy controls. However, a statistically significant link was observed between sensorineural hearing loss and spatial cognition.
KW - spatial cognition
KW - vestibular loss
KW - hearing loss
KW - hippocampus
KW - Morris Water Maze
KW - SPATIAL MEMORY
KW - COGNITIVE REHABILITATION
KW - VISUOSPATIAL ABILITY
KW - HIPPOCAMPAL ATROPHY
KW - IMPAIRMENT
KW - NOISE
KW - ASSOCIATION
KW - DISORDERS
KW - DEMENTIA
KW - REQUIRE
U2 - 10.3389/fneur.2020.00710
DO - 10.3389/fneur.2020.00710
M3 - Article
C2 - 32849193
SN - 1664-2295
VL - 11
JO - Frontiers in Neurology
JF - Frontiers in Neurology
M1 - 710
ER -