Alzheimer's: smart body detects disorientation symptoms and helps patients return home

A wearable implant tested at La Cattolica that captures a neurovegetative change in the sympathetic system and generates alerts to return to the starting point

17 September 2025

3' min read

Key points

Smart body wearable detects physiological and walking parameters
Three types of neurons for topographic orientation
Other studies selected from Airalzh's AGYR calls

3' min read

Spatial disorientation is among the first alarm bells of Alzheimer's disease. It is a disorder that prevents the individual's brain mechanisms from orienting themselves, preventing a mental representation of their surroundings. In the more advanced stages of the disease, with the gradual loss of cognitive functions, people may wander aimlessly from their residences driven by needs that ultimately remain unmet.

It was precisely on topographical disorientation in Alzheimer's disease that a study was conducted by Davide Cammisuli, a former Airalzh (Italian Association for Alzheimer's Research) researcher and contract professor at the School of Specialisation in Clinical Psychology at the Catholic University of Milan. The study is part of one of the numerous research projects financed by Airalzh under the AGYR (Airalzh Grants for Young Researchers) call that the Association awards every year to young researchers under 40.

Smart body wearable detects physiological and walking parameters

The study - carried out in an urban garden - demonstrated, for the first time, a clear impairment of spatial cognition in patients with mild cognitive decline and biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease. Topographical disorientation, in fact, is very often complained of by the patient and reported by relatives even in the phases preceding the onset of the disease, but is never specifically evaluated as a possible behavioural 'predictor' of the later phases associated with Alzheimer's-type dementia, where frank spatial-temporal disorientation is manifest.

The researcher made use of an innovative technological apparatus - a wearable smart body equipped with sensors that detect physiological and walking parameters - that demonstrated the ability to capture a neurovegetative change in the sympathetic system related to the disorientation that patients (with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease) often experience. This assessment was carried out by means of computerised tests compared to walking along urban routes, so as to simulate the effect of potential disorientation when walking along the stages of a given route.

Moreover, thanks to the possibility of non-invasive and remote monitoring (and, therefore, with advantages for both the clinician/researcher and the family member/caregiver), the smart body is able to track the route taken thanks to a GPS and can be implemented with alert thresholds or instant messaging that can lead the patient with cognitive impairment back to his or her home (or starting point of the urban route) if he or she might get lost or make mistakes along the way.

Three types of neurons for topographic orientation

There are three types of neurons involved in topographic orientation: position, grid and boundary neurons. "They are present in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex and work in synergy to create an internal map of the environment that allows people to orient themselves and move around,' explains Sandro Sorbi, Past President of Airalzh Onlus and Director of Neurology I at the Careggi University Hospital in Florence. Position neurons are activated when an individual is in a specific position within an environment, while grid neurons create a sort of spatial network that allows humans to know where they are and where they are going. Boundary neurons, on the other hand, are activated when a person reaches the boundaries of an environment'.

Other studies selected by Airalzh's AGYR calls

Interesting recent results have also been achieved by two other research projects selected in Airalzh Onlus' AGYR calls. With the project of Alessia Vignoli, an Airalzh researcher at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Florence, work is continuing in the area of early risk identification to understand the possibility of evolution into Alzheimer's disease in patients in a non-invasive way, through nuclear magnetic resonance imaging in a blood sample. With Andrea Magrì, an Airalzh researcher at the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Catania, solutions for new pharmacological therapies are being investigated, such as the possibility of counteracting the accumulation of β-amyloid protein through the use of a new molecule with the aim of restoring the correct function of the mitochondria.

Since its foundation in 2014, Airalzh has invested more than 4 million euros, thanks to the support of large and small donors (from 30 September for every book 'Lo ricordo io per te' by Michele Bravi published by Feltrinelli, 1 euro will be donated to support Airalzh Onlus) to finance 82 grants and 37 research projects.