Award
National Institute on Aging 5R01AG073250-05
Influences of Environmental Geometry and Aging on Cognitive Mapping Mechanisms
Recipient
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Award Amount
$436,091.00
Ceiling
$436,091.00
Awarded
April 28, 2026
Identifier
5R01AG073250-05
Research project funded by the National Institute on Aging to study the role of entorhinal cortex in spatial navigation and cognitive mapping, focusing on aging and Alzheimer's disease effects using neuroimaging and virtual reality.
Description
This project will utilize cutting-edge neuroimaging and virtual reality techniques to test specific predictions about how entorhinal cortex (EC) supports the cognitive map in young adults, and apply this foundational knowledge in an aged cohort to test a deep, mechanistic perspective of age-related declines in goal-directed navigation. The research aims to understand how human EC contributes to spatial memory mechanisms and how grid-like signal declines can contribute to declines in spatial ability in aging and Alzheimer's-related dementia.