Assessing the mental frame syncing in the elderly: a virtual reality protocol.

Decline in spatial memory in the elderly is often underestimated, and it is crucial to fully investigate the cognitive underpinnings of early spatial impairment. A virtual reality-based procedure was developed to assess deficit in the "mental frame syncing", namely the cognitive ability that allows an effective orientation by synchronizing the allocentric view-point independent representation with the allocentric view-point dependent representation. A pilot study was carried out to evaluate abilities in the mental frame syncing in a sample of 16 elderly participants. Preliminary results indicated that the general cognitive functioning was associated with the ability in the synchronization between these two allocentric references frames.