Editing Spatial memory (section)

==Disorders/deficits==

===Topographical disorientation===
{{main|Topographical disorientation|Developmental topographical disorientation}}

Topographical disorientation (TD) is a cognitive disorder that results in the individual being unable to orient his or herself in the real or virtual environment. Patients also struggle with spatial-information dependent tasks. These problems could possibly be the result of a disruption in the ability to access one's cognitive map, a mental representation of the surrounding environment or the inability to judge objects' location in relation to one's self.<ref>Stark, M; Coslett, HB; Saffran, EM (1996). Impairment of an egocentric map of locations: implications for perception and action. 13. Cogn Neuropsychol. pp. 481–523.</ref>

[[Developmental topographical disorientation]] (DTD) is diagnosed when patients have shown an inability to [[Navigation|navigate]] even familiar surroundings since birth and show no apparent neurological causes for this deficiency such as lesioning or brain damage. DTD is a relatively new disorder and can occur in varying degrees of severity. {{cn|date=March 2025}}

A study was done to see if topographical disorientation had an effect on individuals who had mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The study was done by recruiting forty-one patients diagnosed with MCI and 24 healthy control individuals. The standards that were set for this experiment were: {{cn|date=March 2025}}
# Subjective cognitive complaint by the patient or his/her caregiver.
# Normal general cognitive function above the 16th percentile on the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE).
# Normal activities of daily living (ADL) assessed both clinically and on a standardized scale (as described below).
# Objective cognitive decline below the 16th percentile on neuropsychological tests.
# Exclusion of dementia.
TD was assessed clinically in all participants. Neurological and neuropsychological evaluations were determined by a magnetic imaging scan which was performed on each participant. Voxel-based morphometry was used to compare patterns of gray-matter atrophy between patients with and without TD, and a group of normal controls. The outcome of the experiment was that they found TD in 17 out of the 41 MCI patients (41.4%). The functional abilities were significantly impaired in MCI patients with TD compared to in MCI patients without TD and that the presence of TD in MCI patients is associated with loss of gray matter in the medial temporal regions, including the hippocampus.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lim |first1=Tae-Sung |last2=Iaria |first2=Giuseppe |last3=Moon |first3=So Young |title=Topographical Disorientation in Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study |journal=Journal of Clinical Neurology |date=2010 |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=204–211 |doi=10.3988/jcn.2010.6.4.204 |pmid=21264201 |pmc=3024525 }}</ref>

===Hippocampal damage and schizophrenia===
Research with rats indicates that spatial memory may be adversely affected by [[Infant|neonatal]] damage to the hippocampus in a way that closely resembles [[schizophrenia]]. Schizophrenia is thought to stem from [[Neural development|neurodevelopmental]] problems shortly after birth.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Lewis | first1 = D.A. | last2 = Levitt | first2 = P. | year = 2002 | title = Schizophrenia as a disorder of neurodevelopment | journal = Annual Review of Neuroscience | volume = 25 | pages = 409–432 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.neuro.25.112701.142754 | pmid = 12052915 }}</ref>

Rats are commonly used as models of schizophrenia patients. Experimenters create lesions in the ventral hippocampal area shortly after birth, a procedure known as neonatal ventral hippocampal lesioning (NVHL). Adult rats with NVHL show typical indicators of schizophrenia, such as hypersensitivity to [[Stimulant|psychostimulants]], reduced social interactions and impaired [[prepulse inhibition]], working memory and set-shifting.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Lipska | first1 = B.K. | last2 = Weinberger | first2 = D.R. | year = 2000 | title = To model a psychiatric disorder in animals: Schizophrenia as a reality test | journal = Neuropsychopharmacology | volume = 23 | issue = 3| pages = 223–239 | doi = 10.1016/S0893-133X(00)00137-8 | pmid = 10942847 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Lipska | first1 = B.K. | last2 = Aultman | first2 = J.M. | last3 = Verma | first3 = A. | last4 = Weinberger | first4 = D.R. | last5 = Moghaddam | first5 = B. | year = 2002 | title = Neonatal damage of the ventral hippocampus impairs working memory in the rat | journal = Neuropsychopharmacology | volume = 27 | issue = 1| pages = 47–54 | doi = 10.1016/S0893-133X(02)00282-8 | pmid = 12062906 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Marquis | first1 = J. P. | last2 = Goulet | first2 = S. | last3 = Dore | first3 = F. Y. | year = 2008 | title = Dissociable onset of cognitive and motivational dysfunctions following neonatal lesions of the ventral hippocampus in rats | journal = Behavioral Neuroscience | volume = 122 | issue = 3| pages = 629–642 | doi = 10.1037/0735-7044.122.3.629 | pmid = 18513133 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Brady | first1 = A. M. | year = 2009 | title = Neonatal ventral hippocampal lesions disrupt set-shifting ability in adult rats | journal = Behavioural Brain Research | volume = 205 | issue = 1| pages = 294–298 | doi = 10.1016/j.bbr.2009.07.025 | pmid = 19646488 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Marquis | first1 = J.P. | last2 = Goulet | first2 = S. | last3 = Dore | first3 = F.Y. | year = 2008 | title = Neonatal ventral hippocampus lesions disrupt extra-dimensional shift and alter dendritic spine density in the medial prefrontal cortex of juvenile rats | journal = Neurobiology of Learning and Memory | volume = 90 | issue = 2| pages = 339–346 | doi = 10.1016/j.nlm.2008.04.005 | pmid = 18490183 }}</ref> Similar to schizophrenia, impaired rats fail to use environmental context in spatial learning tasks such as showing difficulty completing the radial arm maze and the Moris water maze.<ref>Winocur, G. & Mills, J. A. (1970). Transfer between related and unrelated problems following hippocampal lesions in rats. ''Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology''</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Levin | first1 = E.D. | last2 = Christopher | first2 = N.C. | year = 2006 | title = Effects of clozapine on memory function in the rat neonatal hippocampal lesion model of schizophrenia | journal = Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry | volume = 30 | issue = 2| pages = 223–229 | doi = 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2005.10.018 | pmid = 16356617 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Silva-Gomez | first1 = A.B. | last2 = Bermudez | first2 = M. | last3 = Quirion | first3 = R. | last4 = Srivastava | first4 = L.K. | last5 = Picazo | first5 = O. | last6 = Flores | first6 = G. | year = 2003 | title = Comparative behavioral changes between male and female postpubertal rats following neonatal excitotoxic lesions of the ventral hippocampus | journal = Brain Research | volume = 973 | issue = 2| pages = 285–292 | doi = 10.1016/S0006-8993(03)02537-X | pmid = 12738072 }}</ref>

===NEIL1===

Endonuclease VIII-like 1 ([[NEIL1]]) is a [[DNA repair]] enzyme that is widely expressed throughout the [[brain]].  NEIL1 is a [[DNA glycosylase]] that initiates the first step in [[base excision repair]] by cleaving bases damaged by reactive oxygen species and then introducing a DNA strand break via an associated [[lyase]] reaction.  This enzyme recognizes and removes [[DNA oxidation|oxidized DNA bases]] including [[Formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase|formamidopyrimidine]], [[thymine glycol]], [[5-hydroxyuracil]] and [[5-hydroxycytosine]].  NEIL1 promotes short-term spatial memory retention.<ref name="pmid22927410">{{cite journal |vauthors=Canugovi C, Yoon JS, Feldman NH, Croteau DL, Mattson MP, Bohr VA |title=Endonuclease VIII-like 1 (NEIL1) promotes short-term spatial memory retention and protects from ischemic stroke-induced brain dysfunction and death in mice |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=109 |issue=37 |pages=14948–53 |date=September 2012 |pmid=22927410 |pmc=3443144 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1204156109 |bibcode=2012PNAS..10914948C |doi-access=free }}</ref>  Mice lacking NEIL1 have impaired short-term spatial memory retention in a water maze test.<ref name="pmid22927410" />