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Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

Abstract

Visuospatial deficits emerge from the pathophysiology of both Huntington’s disease (HD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but few studies have directly compared the types of visuospatial deficits associated with these disorders. We directly compared the mental rotation abilities of HD (n = 18) and AD (n = 18) patients relative to age-matched control groups (young healthy controls: n = 20; older healthy controls: n = 20). Participants completed the nonrotational and rotational components of the Right-Left Orientation Test (RLOT), Luria, Money Road Map Test (MRMT), and Stick Construction Test (SCT). Participants also indicated the strategy they used to complete each: personal rotation (mentally rotating themselves through space to take a new perspective), extrapersonal rotation (mentally rotating test materials through space), or a nonrotational strategy (e.g., using knowledge about spatial relationships). Results showed that HD and AD patients were equally impaired relative to their control groups on rotational, but not nonrotational, components of all four tests. The four groups did not differ significantly in their self-reported use of strategies on the RLOT or Luria, but group differences emerged on the MRMT and SCT. Controls were more likely to report using personal rotation than either extrapersonal or other strategies on both MRMT and SCT, but their strategy choice did not affect their performance on either test. For patients, HD and AD groups reported using personal strategies as commonly as their respective healthy controls during SCT, but HD patients were less likely than their control group to use personal rotation on the MRMT. Utilization of a personal rotation strategy by patients resulted in better performance on the MRMT, but not on the SCT. Together, results suggest that many nonrotational visuospatial skills are preserved in mild to moderate AD and HD, whereas mental rotation is impaired. In part, this could be attributable to strategy choices made by patients.

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