Infrastructureless pedestrian navigation to assess the response of alzheimer’s patients to visual cues

The aim of the study was to understand how patients with dementia were able to navigate in a domestic environment, and whether the presence of visual cues could assist in route finding. A simulated domestic environment was created in the Pedestrian Accessibility and Movement Environment Laboratory (PAMELA) comprising three different types of corridors and an open room with three doors. Three groups of subjects were studied: i) posterior cortical atrophy (PCA); ii) typical Alzheimer´s disease (tAD); iii) age- and gender matched controls. Foot-mounted inertial measurement units (IMUs) were used to measure accelerations in 3D. Data from the sensors was transmitted wirelessly to a laptop computer. Spatio-temporal parameters of gait, and position within the PAMELA platform were calculated. The effect of visual cues of navigational performance was then assessed.