Virtual Reality Water Maze Navigation in Children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 and Reading Disability: an Exploratory Study.

Abstract

Deficits in visuospatial skills have long been considered a hallmark characteristic of the neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) cognitive profile. Yet, whether previously used measures reveal the full nature of these visuospatial deficits in NF1 remains unclear. An exploratory study was conducted using a virtual reality water maze developed to serve as a human analog of the Morris water maze animal model. Children with NF1 were compared to children who did not have NF1 (typically developing; TD), with the two groups matched on reading skill due to the common occurrence of reading difficulties (RD) in NF1. Metrics of virtual navigation revealed that the TD group (n = 14) generally outperformed NF1 (n = 17) on learning trials of the water maze on multiple measures (path length, latency, Gallagher cumulative search error). Results remained significant even when controlling for IQ and working memory. However, the final (probe) trial showed no significant difference between the groups. These preliminary results suggest that though NF1 initially performs poorly on virtual navigation, with additional practice this group resembles TD children. These findings prompt future avenues of research to further explore potential unique relations between visuospatial skill and reading skill in NF1 as well as to further delineate individuals with NF1 from their typically developing peers.