VStore: A Novel Virtual Reality Assessment of Functional Cognition (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilla Alexandra Porffy ◽  
Mitul A. Mehta ◽  
Joel Patchitt ◽  
Celia Boussebaa ◽  
Jack Brett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Paired Associate ◽  
Model Fitting ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Related Cognitive Decline

BACKGROUND Cognitive deficits are present in a number of neuropsychiatric disorders including, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and depression. Assessments used to measure cognition in these disorders are time-consuming, burdensome, and have low ecological validity. To address these limitations, we developed a novel virtual reality shopping task – VStore. OBJECTIVE This study aims to establish the concurrent and construct validity of VStore in relation to the established computerized cognitive battery, Cogstate; and tests its sensitivity to age related cognitive decline. METHODS Hundred and four healthy volunteers aged 20-79 completed both assessments. Main VStore outcomes included: 1) verbal recall of 12 grocery items, 2) time to collect items, 3) time to select items on a self-checkout machine, 4) time to make the payment, 5) time to order coffee, and 6) total completion time. To establish concurrent validity, bivariate correlations were performed between VStore outcomes and Cogstate tasks measuring attention, processing speed, verbal and visual learning, working memory, executive function, and paired associate learning. Construct validity analysis was also performed to examine which cognitive domains best predicted VStore performance. Finally, two ridge regression models were built using VStore outcomes in the first, and Cogstate outcomes in the second model as predictors of biological age to compare their sensitivity to age-related cognitive decline. RESULTS We found moderate correlations between VStore and Cogstate outcomes. VStore Total Time was best explained by tasks measuring working memory and paired associate learning, in addition to age and technological familiarity, accounting for 46% of the variance. Finally, with λ = 5.16, the model fitting selected five parameters for VStore when predicting biological age (MSE = 185.8, SE= 19.34). With λ = 9.49 for Cogstate, the model fitting selected all eight tasks (MSE = 226.8, SE = 23.48). CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that VStore is a promising assessment that engages standard cognitive domains and is sensitive to age-related cognitive decline. CLINICALTRIAL NA

scholarly journals A Pilot Study of Assessing Cognition in Children with Sickle Cell Disease Using a New Software Package the Cogstate Battery

Blood ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 126 (23) ◽  
pp. 4592-4592
Author(s):  
Jessica Thompson ◽  
Catherine Mkandawire ◽  
Subarna Chakravorty ◽  
Michael Laffan
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Paired Associate ◽  
Maze Learning ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Cell Disease ◽  
Test Report ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Delayed Recall ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Learning Test

Abstract Introduction 17% of children with sickle cell disease (SCD) between the ages of 6 and 16 could have silent infarcts1. Depending on the area of the brain affected silent infarcts can cause problems with attention, coordination, visual-motor speed and executive function. Children with SCD in the UK do not receive routine MRI scans. Subtle defects in cognition can be assessed with neuropsychometric testing which involves multiple tests assessing many areas of cognition. However, testing is limited to those with known neurological deficits due to lack of funding and shortage of specialist staff. There is a need for a robust screening tool for assessment of cognition, which could identify children for further specialist testing. The Cogstate battery is computer-based program that assesses cognition and has been used in several clinical settings, both adult and paediatric2-3. The Cogstate battery is reported to be culturally neutral and is available in several languages. Additionally the Cogstate battery is free from practice effects and so could be used as an annual assessment tool in order to identify any declines as early as possible. The Cogstate battery has not yet been used to assess cognition in children with SCD. Research Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of using the Cogstate Battery as a tool for the assessment of cognition in children with SCD. It was hypothesised that the Cogstate battery would be easy to use within this setting and would be acceptable to patients, parents and assessors. Methods Eight clinically well children, aged 10-17 with SCD were recruited through St Mary's Hospital paediatric haematology outpatient clinics. The Cogstate software was downloaded onto a Windows laptop computer and an anonymous profile was created for each child before testing. A battery of 6 tests (Table 1) was created aiming to assess a range of cognitive domains within a reasonable amount of time. Every child completed the battery of tests once, which included a short practice before each test. After testing each patient was asked to give an opinion of how they found the tests. Upon completion of the test the patients' results were uploaded to the Cogstate website which generated a test report and a case report form. A mark was given for each test and a score of over 90 represents normal cognition in the area tested, 81-90 represents mild impairment and below 81 represents impairment.Table 1.Tests used in the Cogstate battery and corresponding cognitive domains assessedTest NameCognitive Domain TestedContinuous paired associate learning (CPAL)Paired associate learningDetection (DET)Psychomotor functionGroton maze learning test (ME)Executive functionGroton maze learning test-delayed recall (ME)Delayed recallIdentification (IDN)AttentionOne card learning (OCL)LearningOne-back memory (ONBA)Working memory Results 8 patients completed the battery, taking on average 29 minutes (Table 2). The battery was easy to carry out and although some children reported it as boring, they all finished the tests without distress. The test report generated by the Cogstate website allowed results to be analysed quickly and with ease. An overall score from each test is clearly indicated. The Continuous Paired Associate Learning test was not displayed as part of the test report as there was insufficient normal data to draw conclusions from the results within the age group tested. Table 2. Summary Report of 8 patients tested PatientID DET(Psychomotor function) IDN(Attention) OCL(Learning) ONBS(Processing speed) ONBA(Working memory) ME(Executive function & delayed recall) 0001 87 75 82 78 83 99 0002 106 105 94 90 117 99 0003 96 101 95 95 117 98 0004 76 76 94 81 94 93 0005 86 84 98 81 89 89 0006 98 104 97 97 94 111 0007 94 90 91 83 101 86 0008 91 88 108 90 96 95 Conclusion The Cogstate battery is a feasible tool for paediatric SCD patients and can be undertaken in a clinic setting. This feasibility study will help design a prospective, comparative study of cognition in children with SCD using the Cogstate battery and conventional neuropsychometric assessment and once validated, would be a useful tool to assess cognition and institute timely educational and medical intervention. References: 1. Pegelow J Pediatr. 2002 Mar;140(3):348-54. 2. Hammers, Am J Alzheimers Dis. 2011 Jun;26(4):326-33 3. Harel PLoS One. 2014 Jul 11;9(7):e101750 Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

scholarly journals Individual variation in brain microstructural-cognition relationships in aging

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raihaan Patel ◽  
Clare E. Mackay ◽  
Michelle G. Jansen ◽  
Gabriel A. Devenyi ◽  
M. Clare O’Donoghue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Older Age ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Semantic Fluency ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Brain Microstructure ◽  
Age Related Cognitive Decline

AbstractWhile all individuals are susceptible to age-related cognitive decline, significant inter- and intra-individual variability exists. However, the sources of this variation remain poorly understood. Here, we examined the association between 30-year trajectories of cognitive decline and multimodal indices of brain microstructure and morphology in older age. We used the Whitehall II Study, an extensively characterised cohort using 3T brain magnetic resonance images acquired at older age (mean age = 69.52 ± 4.9) and 5 repeated cognitive performance assessments between mid-life (mean age = 53.2 ± 4.9 years) and late-life (mean age = 67.7 ± 4.9). Using non-negative matrix factorization, we identified 10 brain microstructural components that integrate measures of cortical thickness, surface area, fractional anisotropy, and mean and radial diffusivities. We observed two modes of variance that describe the association between cognition and brain microstructure. The first describes variations in 5 microstructural components associated with low mid-life performance across multiple cognitive domains, decline in reasoning abilities, but a relative maintenance of lexical and semantic fluency from mid-to-late life. The second describes variations in 5 microstructural components that are associated with low mid-life performance in lexical fluency, semantic fluency and short-term memory performance, but a retention of abilities in multiple domains from mid-to-late life. The extent to which a subject loads onto a latent variables predicts their future cognitive performance 3.2 years later (mean age = 70.87 ± 4.9). This data-driven approach highlights a complex pattern of brain-behavior relationships, wherein the same individuals express both decline and maintenance in function across cognitive domains and in brain structural features.Significance StatementAlthough declines in cognitive performance are an established aspect of aging, inter- and intra-individual variation exists. Nevertheless, the sources of this variation remain unclear. We analyse a unique sample to examine associations between 30-year trajectories of cognitive decline and multimodal indices of brain anatomy in older age. Using data-driven techniques, we find that age-related cognitive decline is not uniform. Instead, each individual expresses a mixture of maintenance and decline across cognitive domains, that are associated with a mixture of preservation and degeneration of brain structure. Further, we find the primary determinants of late-life cognitive performance are mid-life performance and higher brain surface area. These results suggest that early and mid-life preventative measures may be needed to reduce age-related cognitive decline.

The Mismeasurement of Mind: Life-Span Changes in Paired-Associate-Learning Scores Reflect the “Cost” of Learning, Not Cognitive Decline

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 1171-1179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ramscar ◽  
Ching Chu Sun ◽  
Peter Hendrix ◽  
Harald Baayen
Keyword(s):  
Life Span ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Paired Associate ◽  
Computational Simulation ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Test Items ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
The Cost

The age-related declines observed in scores on paired-associate-learning (PAL) tests are widely taken as support for the idea that human cognitive capacities decline across the life span. In a computational simulation, we showed that the patterns of change in PAL scores are actually predicted by the models that formalize the associative learning process in other areas of behavioral and neuroscientific research. These models also predict that manipulating language exposure can reproduce the experience-related performance differences erroneously attributed to age-related decline in age-matched adults. Consistent with this, results showed that older bilinguals outperformed native speakers in a German PAL test, an advantage that increased with age. These analyses and results show that age-related PAL performance changes reflect the predictable effects of learning on the associability of test items, and indicate that failing to control for these effects is distorting the understanding of cognitive and brain development in adulthood.

scholarly journals Touchscreen-based location discrimination and paired associate learning tasks detect cognitive impairment at an early stage in an App knock-in mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Ali Bin Saifullah ◽  
Okiru Komine ◽  
Yutao Dong ◽  
Kazuya Fukumoto ◽  
Akira Sobue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Model ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Neurofibrillary Tangles ◽  
Water Maze ◽  
Paired Associate ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Morris Water Maze Test ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Maze Test

AbstractAlzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive decline with accumulation of amyloid beta (Aβ) and neurofibrillary tangles that usually begins 15–30 years before clinical diagnosis. Rodent models that recapitulate aggressive Aβ and/or the pathology of neurofibrillary tangles are essential for AD research. Accordingly, non-invasive early detection systems in these animal models are required to evaluate the phenotypic changes, elucidate the mechanism of disease progression, and facilitate development of novel therapeutic approaches. Although many behavioral tests efficiently reveal cognitive impairments at the later stage of the disease in AD models, it has been challenging to detect such impairments at the early stage. To address this issue, we subjected 4–6-month-old male AppNL−G−F/NL−G−F knock-in (App-KI) mice to touchscreen-based location discrimination (LD), different object–location paired-associate learning (dPAL), and reversal learning tests, and compared the results with those of the classical Morris water maze test. These tests are mainly dependent on the brain regions prone to Aβ accumulation at the earliest stages of the disease. At 4–6 months, considered to represent the early stage of disease when mice exhibit initial deposition of Aβ and slight gliosis, the classical Morris water maze test revealed no difference between groups, whereas touchscreen-based LD and dPAL tasks revealed significant impairments in task performance. Our report is the first to confirm that a systematic touchscreen-based behavioral test battery can sensitively detect the early stage of cognitive decline in an AD-linked App-KI mouse model. This system could be applied in future translational research.

scholarly journals NR2A-Containing NMDARs in the Prefrontal Cortex Are Required for Working Memory and Associated with Age-Related Cognitive Decline

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (50) ◽  
pp. 12537-12548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph A. McQuail ◽  
B. Sofia Beas ◽  
Kyle B. Kelly ◽  
Kailey L. Simpson ◽  
Charles J. Frazier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Related Cognitive Decline

Epidemiology of Cerebrovascular Disease Related Cognitive Decline

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (S1) ◽  
pp. 105-110
Author(s):  
Chengxuan Qiu ◽  
Laura Fratiglioni
Keyword(s):  
Cerebrovascular Disease ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Memory Function ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Central Component ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Treatment And Prevention ◽  
Dementia Patients ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Related Cognitive Decline

Cognitive decline is a central component of the dementia process. Population-based prospective studies have confirmed the existence of age-related cognitive decline, although its conceptual basis and nosological status remain controversial. Healthy old people show decline with aging in global cognition and memory function in particular. Preclinical and clinical dementia patients exhibit deficits across multiple cognitive domains, with the largest and most consistent deficits in memory function. Cerebrovascluar disease may lead to cognitive decline and promote the clinical expression of dementia directly or by interaction with APOE η4. Early treatment and prevention of cerebrovascular disease may be the major measures for preventing and postponing the progression of the vascular disease related cognitive decline.

scholarly journals Lifelong Learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mackenzie Robinson Graves
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Cognitive Load Theory ◽  
Brain Injuries ◽  
Worked Examples ◽  
Strategy Development ◽  
Load Theory ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Related Cognitive Decline

The struggles faced by elder learners suffering from age-related cognitive decline are often overlooked by instructional designers. However, existing educational theories that already inform learning strategy development for other populations should also help establish instructional methods used to help elder learners. In this article, cognitive load theory frames an exploration of proposed means to slow or counteract the effects of age-related cognitive decline in elder learners. Attention is given to the ways in which multimedia learning methods adhering to certain principles of cognitive load theory can increase available working memory capacity. Evidence is provided to show that cognitive load theory-based practices can also facilitate one’s activation of prior knowledge and betters one’s attentional control. Additionally, elder learners benefit from tasks that include worked examples and goal-free problems, whereas conventional, goal-oriented problems impose greater extraneous load on an already taxed working memory. The outcomes of the present analysis can also be applied to stroke victims’ rehabilitation plans and may offer implications for individuals suffering from other brain injuries, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, or dementia-related illnesses.

scholarly journals Cerebral aging: neuropsychological, neuroradiological, and neurometabolic correlates

2001 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-228
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Statistical Manual ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Diagnostic And Statistical Manual ◽  
Visuospatial Abilities ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Brain Metabolic Activity ◽  
Declarative Learning ◽  
Age Related Cognitive Decline

The aging process is associated with a progressive cognitive decline, but both the extent of this decline and the profile of age-related cognitive changes remain to be clearly established. Currently, cognitive deficits associated with aging may be diagnosed under the categories of age-associated memory impairment, age-associated cognitive impairment, or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) category of age-related cognitive decline. Age-related decline has been reported for several cognitive domains, such as language (eg, verb naming, verbal fluency), visuospatial abilities (eg, facial discrimination), executive functions (eg, set shifting, problem solving), and memory functions (eg, declarative learning, source memory). There is an age-related decline in brain cortical volume, which primarily involves association cortices and limbic regions. Studies of brain metabolic activity demonstrate an age-related decline in neocortical areas. Activation studies using cognitive tasks demonstrate that older healthy individuals have a different pattern of activation from younger subjects, suggesting thai older subjects may recruit additional brain areas in order to maintain performance.

Paired Associate Learning: Age Differences

1996 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-127
Author(s):  
Konstantinos V. Katsikopoulos ◽  
Donald L. Fisher ◽  
Michael T. Pullen
Keyword(s):  
Paired Associate ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Mathematical Tool ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Two Age Groups

The issue of age related differences in performance during the acqusition phase of a paired associate learning task is discussed within the framework of a precise mathematical tool. A two-stage, four-state Markov model is employed to analyze the data sets from two age groups consisting of 24 subjects each. The relative efficiencies of the acqusition processes of the younger and the older groups of adults are reflected in the different values of parameters. (These values were obtained by optimizing the fit of the model to the two data sets). The two major findings are: (i) the younger adults form associations (even temporary ones more easily) and (ii) these associations tend to decay less quickly, again in the younger adults. The results speak against the general decrement hypothesis, allthough further investigation is needed.

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