Research Symposium

BIO

Katelyn Cristaldi is an exercise physiology student from Port St. Lucie, Florida. She is part of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), working on a project analyzing schizophrenia's effects on spatial navigation skills. In addition to UROP, Katelyn volunteers at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare's (TMH) ChildCare Center, is a part of TMH's mobility team, and is a youth soccer coach. Once she completes her undergraduate degree, Katelyn plans to attend medical school.

Spacial Navigation and Schizophrenia

Abstract

There have been multiple studies on spatial navigation skills regarding schizophrenia. Our research deals with analyzing current data to see if there is a trend in schizophrenia’s effect on spatial navigation skills. Spatial navigation skills are affected by many neurological disorders. Our research team has analyzed the effect on other neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's. If a relationship is found, our research could be critical in treatment and diagnosis. Our project is using Covidence for screening and data extraction. When I started on the project, our team was at the stage of finding and scanning through multiple literature reviews. We are past the literature review stage and are now in the extraction phase. Currently, I am going through the literature reviews our team is using and coding for demographics. We are predicting our results will show a correlation between schizophrenic patients and impaired spatial navigation skills. So far, the literature I have read through and coded for has shown deficits in the spatial navigation skills tested for. We will know more once we are done with the extraction phase of our project. This research is important because it will provide a better understanding of the cognitive deficits associated with this disorder. Additionally, it could lead to better treatments and interventions. This research could also help in diagnosing schizophrenic patients.

Keywords: spatial navigation, schizophrenia, meta-analysis