Introduction

Proposed research aims to test novel tools of cognitive assessment based on Virtual Reality and Tablet/Laptop on people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Given the limitations of the traditional neuropsychological assessment tools in estimating the real-world abilities, and lack of power for capturing early-stage cognitive deterioration, novel tools based on VR/Tablet can provide deeper insights. Research on these tools is at a preliminary stage globally and no large-scale studies in India currently exist. Given the wide population of India and the lack of adequate neurologists, there is a need for technology-based tools for efficient decision making into the cognitive health of the people, especially elderly group.

  Justification / need for the study

There are currently no large-scale studies in India on the clinical population (MCI) using VR games for cognitive assessment. The study provides an opportunity to experiment on novel and emerging tools like VR for cognitive assessment. Given the limitations of the traditional neuropsychological tests (Chaytor & Schmitter-Edgecombe, 2003; Sbordone & Long, 1996; Spooner & Pachana, 2006), VR based games for cognitive assessment provide greater opportunities to assess cognitive abilities in real-world type environments.

Furthermore, due to the 3D immersive nature of the Virtual Reality (VR), the games can mimic the real-world cognitive load, thereby provide more realistic assessment of functional cognitive abilities of the participants. Potentially, this ability to provide ecologically valid assessment can lead to early detection of non-symptomatic cognitive decline.

Project Aim 

The aim of this project is to pilot, and evaluate the Virtual Reality based goal-oriented games in the MCI people and to obtain feedback from the primary stakeholders in the clinical settings, such as caregivers, physicians, nurses, neurologist and allied specialists. Through the results of these, we also aim to arrive at a definitive understanding of the efficacy of the VR-based cognitive assessment and rehabilitation in the Indian scenario.

-       Objectives

1.     Pilot the 2 VR-based Games and 2 Tablet based games in MCI patients and compare their scores against the ACE-III and MoCA Scores of the patients.

2.     Based on the results of Objective (1) analyse the findings in context of simultaneous ACE-III administration among the MCI patients.