# The Effects of Cognitive Map Building on the Development of Alzheimer's Disease

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS DALLAS · 2020 · $229,500

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Can regular mental exercises in building cognitive maps delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or
decelerate the progression of AD? The neuropathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) begins in the entorhinal
cortex, leading to spatial navigation impairment that differentiates patients with mild cognitive impairment
(MCI) and AD from healthy aging adults. Specifically, MCI and AD patients suffer declining abilities to
allocentric navigation that requires developing a cognitive map (aka mental map) as an internal representation
of the environment with places and features independent of one’s current location or orientation. A system of
spatial cells in the hippocampal formation subserves cognitive map building with the spatial periodicity of grid-
cell firing fields to form the brain’s metric coordinate system for allocentric navigation. Studies showed that
grid cells could gradually lose their spatial periodicity during periods of reduced theta oscillations and
hippocampal inactivation. Will mental exercises in building cognitive maps excite theta oscillations and
hippocampal activation and strengthen spatial periodicity of grid-cell firing fields? Findings of structural brain
changes in London taxi drivers and spatial information retrieval support the potential of such excitatory
effects. Further, less is known about the role of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in the storage and retrieval
of cognitive maps, and how this region changes with AD.
 The proposed study hypothesizes that regular mental exercises on cognitive map building can evoke
such excitatory effects to delay AD onset and decelerate AD progression. In this exploratory proposal, we
venture into the links amongst geographic environments, allocentric navigation, cognitive maps, and AD
development: a more complex environment imposes a higher demand on cognitive maps to navigate even on
daily commutes and routine errands, and frequent mental exercises of building and retrieving cognitive maps
lead to preservation of spatial cognition relevant gray matter regions and consequently impede AD
development. We will use data from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) and US-based
Health and Retirement Study (HRS), respectively (1) to compare MCI/AD populations in geographic areas with
varying degrees of environmental complexity and (2) to investigate MCI/AD populations with occupations of
high dependency on cognitive maps, such as realtors, police officers, first responders, and the other
occupations. The NACC databases contain participant’s 3-digit zip-codes and types of residence which will
allow MCI/AD mapping to potential neighborhoods across the US, whereas HRS restricted data include
occupation data and cross-wave geographic information at street-level. Findings from the exploratory project
will support subsequent experimental research to model the role of gray matter volume, refine the research
framework of the excitatory effects of environment complexi...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10062274
- **Project number:** 1R21AG069267-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS DALLAS
- **Principal Investigator:** Kristen M. Kennedy
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $229,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-15 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10062274

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10062274, The Effects of Cognitive Map Building on the Development of Alzheimer's Disease (1R21AG069267-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10062274. Licensed CC0.

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