Editing Spatial memory (section)

===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>