A decline in the Spatial Navigation (SN) abilities has been observed in the course of healthy aging. Walking is an inseparable part of the navigation process; however, research tasks overlook this aspect in studies involving seniors. The present study was designed to overcome this limitation by recording gait parameters during natural environment navigation and to determine gait indicators that most accurately assign the participants to the proper age category. Thirteen elderly (mean age = 69.1 ± 5.4 year) and sixteen young women (mean age = 21.5 ± 2.2 year) equipped with gait sensors were asked to learn a path while walking in a real building (Learning Phase), reproduce the path (Memory Phase) and reach targets after a 30 min delay (Delayed Phase). The Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis showed that our self-developed Gait Style Change indicator, that is, the difference in the probability of feet landing between particular SN task phases, classified the participants into either the elderly or the young group with the highest accuracy (0.91). The second most important indicator, the Task-Related (step counts in each SN task phase), achieved the accuracy discrimination of 0.83. The gait indicators, comprising single gait parameters measured while navigating, might be considered as accurately differentiating older from younger people.

Both navigation abilities and gait can be affected by the atrophy in the medial temporal cortex. This study aimed to determine whether navigation abilities could differentiate seniors with and without medial temporal lobe atrophy who complained about their cognitive status. The participants, classified to either the medial temporal atrophy group (n = 23) or the control group (n = 22) underwent neuropsychological assessment and performed a spatial navigation task while their gait parameters were recorded. The study showed no significant differences between the two groups in memory, fluency, and semantic knowledge or typical measures of navigating abilities. However, gait parameters, particularly the propulsion index during certain phases of the navigation task, distinguished between seniors with and without medial temporal lobe lesions. These findings suggest that the gait parameters in the navigation task may be a valuable tool for identifying seniors with cognitive complaints and subtle medial temporal atrophy.

Subjective cognitive complaints (SCCs) are defined as belief of the decline of a cognitive condition compared with an earlier period of functioning. Many studies have shown the relationship between SCCs with objective neuropsychological results as well its dependency on psychological characteristics. Considering the complex nature of SCCs, this study tested the relationship between SCCs reported in the attention domain with the results obtained in neuropsychological attention tasks, as well as with psychological cha racteristics and among complaints reported in various domains of functioning. Sixty participants over 60 years of age took part in the study. Subjects were tested for the intensity of SCCs in everyday func tioning, psychological characteristics (mood; anxiety, state and trait; and personality traits) and various aspects of attention domain (switching, divided, and focus). The SCC intensity reported in various areas of functioning was associated with each other as well as with psychological characteristics (personality traits, anxiety, and mood/depression). There were no significant relations between the SCC intensity reported in the attention domain and the outcomes obtained in neuropsychological attention tasks. Our results showed that the intensity of SCCs may be a result of subjects’ psychological characteristics and that the tendency to report complaints in various spheres of functioning simultaneously may be observed. It seems to be important to consider that SCCs are related to several psychological factors when it is included in a cognitive diagnosis and treated as a direct indicator of a cognitive condition.