Resumo (EN)
Objective – Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive dementia characterized by memory loss, cognitive functions and behavior changes that undermine the social, occupational and execution of daily activities of affected patients. A change characteristic of AD is the impairment of spatial orientation memory (SOM). The SOM stores information enabling the individual to orient themselves spatially in different environments, either inside your home or even in their own neighborhood. The objective of this study was to determine whether patients with AD are able to orient themselves spatially in different environments with the use of external visual cues. Methods – We performed a case-control study of a patient with a medical diagnosis of AD in the initial stage, which has undergone a series of tests of spatial orientation with different levels of external visual cues. We analyzed the timing of completion and number of errors. These data were compared with those of a control subject of similar age without associated diseases. Results – The patient had more time in the tasks of spatial orientation in all conditions without afferent visual compared to the control, and presents difficulties in establishing spatial relationships right and left. Conclusion – The patient with AD studied showed worse performance than the control subject in the activities of spatial orientation in situations where there was no visual clue.