Abstract
Within the diagnostic framework of Alzheimer’s disease, research has focused on developing advanced measurements successfully detecting early stages of the disease. Creating effective diagnostical tools is challenging due to the discrepancy between pathological changes in the brain and their potential influence on cognitive function. Spatial memory has been suggested as a promising cognitive marker of early AD. The aim of the current thesis is to investigate if the four mountains task (4MT), is a valid diagnostical assessment for early AD detection. Young healthy controls (YHC), aged healthy controls (AHC) and participants with early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) were recruited for the study. The total sample of 37 participants was compared based on group differences on 4MT-performance, and group differences between the older participants was also compared with CERAD-scores and amyloid-beta concentration. Results demonstrated that 4MT may offer a promising potential for early AD-detection, however it lacked predictive ability when compared against the CERAD delayed recall both in terms of cognitive status and biomarker accumulation. The current findings align with previous research, while also highlighting the necessity for further investigation into the specific neuronal mechanisms involved in 4MT-completion, and their direct relevance to AD pathology. By establishing the association between spatial memory and AD, clinicians must then decide the clinical advantage of utilizing 4MT, and whether it offers enhanced specificity and sensitivity within the AD continuum.