ArticlePsychological science2021
Age-Related Changes in Spatial Navigation Are Evident by Midlife and Differ by Sex.
Article in Psychological science, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Common and specific activations supporting optic flow processing and navigation as revealed by a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies.Brain structure & function · 2024Pooled it
- Shape configuration of mental targets representation as a holistic measure in a 3D real world pointing test for spatial orientation.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Associations of mobility and frailty risk with wayfinding ability in aging.Behavioral neuroscience · 2026Article
- Test-Retest Reliability of the Triangle Completion Test.Journal of the American Academy of Audiology · 2026Article
- Spatial navigation strategy in older adults: Preference or ability?Psychology and aging · 2025Article
- Divide (evenly) and conquer (quickly): Spatial exploration behaviors predict navigational learning and differ by sex.Cognition · 2025Article
- A cognitive-motor framework for spatial navigation in aging and early-stage Alzheimer's disease.Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior · 2025Review
- Navigating space and the developing mind.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Review
- Age- and sex-related differences in landmark recall following a virtual spatial navigation task.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Article
- Age differences in spatial memory are mitigated during naturalistic navigation.Neuropsychology, development, and cognition. Section B, Aging, neuropsychology and cognition · 2024Article
- Are there sex differences in spatial reference memory in the Morris water maze? A large-sample experimental study.Learning & behavior · 2024Article
- Less spatial exploration is associated with poorer spatial memory in midlife adults.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2024Article
- Cultural determinants of the gap between self-estimated navigation ability and wayfinding performance: evidence from 46 countries.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Coregistration of heading to visual cues in retrosplenial cortex.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Navigational Experience and the Preservation of Spatial Abilities into Old Age Among a Tropical Forager-Farmer Population.Topics in cognitive science · 2023Article
- Trajectories across the healthy adult lifespan on sense of direction, spatial anxiety, and attitude in exploring places.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Virtual navigation in healthy aging: Activation during learning and deactivation during retrieval predicts successful memory for spatial locations.Neuropsychologia · 2022Article
- Fundamental Clock of Biological Aging: Convergence of Molecular, Neurodegenerative, Cognitive and Psychiatric Pathways: Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics Meet Psychology.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Getting LOST: A conceptual framework for supporting and enhancing spatial navigation in aging.Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive scienceReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Accumulating evidence suggests that distinct aspects of successful navigation-path integration, spatial-knowledge acquisition, and navigation strategies-change with advanced age. Yet few studies have established whether navigation deficits emerge early in the aging process (prior to age 65) or whether early age-related deficits vary by sex. Here, we probed healthy young adults (ages 18-28) and midlife adults (ages 43-61) on three essential aspects of navigation. We found, first, that path-integration ability shows negligible effects of sex or age. Second, robust sex differences in spatial-knowledge acquisition are observed not only in young adulthood but also, although with diminished effect, at midlife. Third, by midlife, men and women show decreased ability to acquire spatial knowledge and increased reliance on taking habitual paths. Together, our findings indicate that age-related changes in navigation ability and strategy are evident as early as midlife and that path-integration ability is spared, to some extent, in the transition from youth to middle age.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.