Age and gender differences in various topographical orientation strategies

Orientation in the environment can draw on a variety of cognitive strategies. We asked 634 healthy volunteers to perform a comprehensive battery administered through an internet website (www.gettinglost.ca), testing different orientation strategies in virtual environments to determine the effect of age and gender upon these skills. Older participants (46–67 years of age) performed worse than younger participants (18–30 or 31–45 years of age) in all orientation skills assessed, including landmark recognition, integration of body-centered information, forming association between landmarks and body turns, and the formation and use of a cognitive map. Among all tests, however, the ability to form cognitive maps resulted to be the significant factor best at predicting the individuals' age group. Gender effects were stable across age and dissociated for task, with males better than females for cognitive map formation and use as well as for path reversal, an orientation task that does not require the processing of visual landmarks during navigation. We conclude that age-related declines in navigation are common across all orientation strategies and confirm gender-specific effects in different spatial domains.

► Effects of age and gender on spatial orientation skills in a large sample (N = 634)
► Comprehensive test battery assessed the use of different orientation strategies
► Orientations skills are vulnerable to aging between middle and late adulthood
► Age effect is consistent across gender
► Results provide normative data useful for early detection of cognitive declines