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Urwyler P, Gupta RK, Falkner M, Niklaus J, Müri RM, Nef T. Tablet-Based Puzzle Game Intervention for Cognitive Function and Well-Being in Healthy Adults: Pilot Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Aging 2023; 6:e46177. [PMID: 37916859 PMCID: PMC10632698 DOI: 10.2196/46177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Revised: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Promoting cognitive health is key to maintaining cognitive and everyday functions and preventing the risk of cognitive impairment or dementia. Existing scientific evidence shows the benefits of various training modalities on cognition. One way to promote cognitive health is through engagement in cognitive activities (eg, board and video games). Objective This study aims to investigate the benefits of dynamic adaptive casual puzzle games on cognitive function and well-being in healthy adults and older people. Methods A total of 12 adults and older people (female participants: n=6; mean age 58.92, SD 10.28 years; range 46-75 years) were included in this pilot randomized controlled trial. This study used a crossover design with two phases (8 weeks each) and three measurement waves (pretest, midtest, and posttest). The participants were randomly allocated either to the control or experimental group. In the control group, participants read newspapers between the pre- and midtest, then switched to cognitive training with puzzle games. In the experimental group, the interventions were reversed. Baseline measurements (pretest) were collected before the intervention. The interventions were delivered on tablet computers and took place unsupervised at participants' homes. Results The outcome measures included global cognitive function, higher cognitive function, and emotional well-being at 3 time points (pretest, midtest, and posttest) using standardized neuropsychological tests. The participants showed improvements in their visual attention and visuospatial measures after the puzzle game intervention. Conclusions The study showed that digital games are a feasible way to train cognition in healthy adults and older people. The algorithm-based dynamic adaption allows accommodations for persons with different cognitive levels of skill. The results of the study will guide future prevention efforts and trials in high-risk populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prabitha Urwyler
- Gerontechnology & Rehabilitation Group, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Neurology, University Neurorehabilitation, University Hospital Bern, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Rajnish Kumar Gupta
- Gerontechnology & Rehabilitation Group, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, Manipal University Jaipur, Jaipur, India
| | - Michael Falkner
- Gerontechnology & Rehabilitation Group, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- University Hospital of Old Age Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Joel Niklaus
- Gerontechnology & Rehabilitation Group, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - René Martin Müri
- Gerontechnology & Rehabilitation Group, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Neurology, University Neurorehabilitation, University Hospital Bern, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Tobias Nef
- Gerontechnology & Rehabilitation Group, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Strauß H, Venables P, Zentner M. Associations between early childhood poverty and cognitive functioning throughout childhood and adolescence: A 14-year prospective longitudinal analysis of the Mauritius Child Health Project. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0278618. [PMID: 36827363 PMCID: PMC9956590 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/20/2022] [Indexed: 02/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Associations between childhood poverty and cognitive outcomes have been examined from multiple perspectives. However, most evidence is based on cross-sectional data or longitudinal data covering only segments of the developmental process. Moreover, previous longitudinal research has mostly relied on data from Western nations, limiting insights of poverty dynamics in low- and middle-income countries. Here, we use data from the Mauritius Child Health Project, a large-scale prospective longitudinal study conducted in a then low-income country, to examine long-term associations between poverty in early childhood and cognitive performance across childhood and adolescence. Poverty-related factors were assessed at age 3 years and comprised indicators of psychosocial adversity and malnutrition. Cognitive functioning was assessed at ages 3 and 11 years by using standardized intelligence measures and at age 17 years by means of a computerized test battery. Using multiple hierarchical regression models, we found that chronic malnutrition and parental characteristics showed similar-sized, independent associations with initial cognitive functioning at age 3 as well as at age 11 years. For age 17 years, however, associations with early childhood risk factors vanished and instead, cognitive functioning was predicted by performance on prior cognitive assessments. Sex was also found to be a powerful predictor of cognitive trajectories, with boys improving and girls worsening over time, regardless of the level of their initial exposure to risk. The current findings indicate that, to prevent cognitive impairment, interventions tackling poverty and malnutrition should focus on the infancy period and be designed in a gender-sensitive way.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah Strauß
- Personality, Emotion and Music Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Peter Venables
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Marcel Zentner
- Personality, Emotion and Music Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
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General intelligence disentangled via a generality metric for natural and artificial intelligence. Sci Rep 2021; 11:22822. [PMID: 34819537 PMCID: PMC8613222 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01997-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2020] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Success in all sorts of situations is the most classical interpretation of general intelligence. Under limited resources, however, the capability of an agent must necessarily be limited too, and generality needs to be understood as comprehensive performance up to a level of difficulty. The degree of generality then refers to the way an agent's capability is distributed as a function of task difficulty. This dissects the notion of general intelligence into two non-populational measures, generality and capability, which we apply to individuals and groups of humans, other animals and AI systems, on several cognitive and perceptual tests. Our results indicate that generality and capability can decouple at the individual level: very specialised agents can show high capability and vice versa. The metrics also decouple at the population level, and we rarely see diminishing returns in generality for those groups of high capability. We relate the individual measure of generality to traditional notions of general intelligence and cognitive efficiency in humans, collectives, non-human animals and machines. The choice of the difficulty function now plays a prominent role in this new conception of generality, which brings a quantitative tool for shedding light on long-standing questions about the evolution of general intelligence and the evaluation of progress in Artificial General Intelligence.
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Nef T, Chesham A, Schütz N, Botros AA, Vanbellingen T, Burgunder JM, Müllner J, Martin Müri R, Urwyler P. Development and Evaluation of Maze-Like Puzzle Games to Assess Cognitive and Motor Function in Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases. Front Aging Neurosci 2020; 12:87. [PMID: 32372942 PMCID: PMC7188385 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2020.00087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Accepted: 03/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
There is currently a need for engaging, user-friendly, and repeatable tasks for assessment of cognitive and motor function in aging and neurodegenerative diseases. This study evaluated the feasibility of a maze-like Numberlink puzzle game in assessing differences in game-based measures of cognition and motor function due to age and neurodegenerative diseases. Fifty-five participants, including young (18-31 years, n = 18), older (64-79 years, n = 14), and oldest adults (86-98 years, n = 14), and patients with Parkinson's (59-76 years, n = 4) and Huntington's disease (HD; 35-66 years, n = 5) played different difficulty levels of the Numberlink puzzle game and completed usability questionnaires and tests for psychomotor, attentional, visuospatial, and constructional and executive function. Analyses of Numberlink game-based cognitive (solving time and errors) and motor [mean velocity and movement direction changes (MDC)] performance metrics revealed statistically significant differences between age groups and between patients with HD and older adults. However, patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) did not differ from older adults. Correlational analyses showed significant associations between game-based performance and movement metrics and performance on neuropsychological tests for psychomotor, attentional, visuospatial, and constructional and executive function. Furthermore, varying characteristics of the Numberlink puzzle game succeeded in creating graded difficulty levels. Findings from this study support recent suggestions that data from a maze-like puzzle game provide potential "digital biomarkers" to assess changes in psychomotor, visuoconstructional, and executive function related to aging and neurodegeneration. In particular, game-based movement measures from the maze-like puzzle Numberlink games are promising as a tool to monitor the progression of motor impairment in neurodegenerative diseases. Further studies are needed to more comprehensively establish the cognitive validity and test-retest reliability of using Numberlink puzzles as a valid cognitive assessment tool.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobias Nef
- Gerontechnology & Rehabilitation, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Alvin Chesham
- Gerontechnology & Rehabilitation, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Narayan Schütz
- Gerontechnology & Rehabilitation, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | | | - Tim Vanbellingen
- Gerontechnology & Rehabilitation, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,Neurocenter, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Lucerne, Switzerland
| | - Jean-Marc Burgunder
- Neurozentrum Siloah and Department of Neurology, Swiss Huntington's Disease Center, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Julia Müllner
- Department of Neurology, University Neurorehabilitation, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland
| | - René Martin Müri
- Gerontechnology & Rehabilitation, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,Department of Neurology, University Neurorehabilitation, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Prabitha Urwyler
- Gerontechnology & Rehabilitation, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,Department of Neurology, University Neurorehabilitation, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland
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Loe BS. The Development and Validation of an Online Spatial Network Measure. Assessment 2019; 27:1914-1927. [PMID: 30674202 DOI: 10.1177/1073191118824662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Planning is an essential cognitive process of executive functions and is considered as one of the most important brain functions. Planning has been extensively studied in the field of neuropsychology, but there is a lack of computerized assessment tools of planning ability that are easily accessible to researchers and clinicians. The present study aims to validate a newly developed online spatial network test that is designed for both clinical and nonclinical populations. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a unidimensional factorial structure with moderate to high internal consistency in the test. Two-parameter logistic item response theory analysis showed acceptable item and model fit and no violation of the local independence assumption. The overall success rate exhibited a positive correlation with the performance of planning before attempting to solve the items. After correcting for attenuation, moderate to high correlations were found between the spatial network test and the International Cognitive Ability Resource 16 short form cognitive ability test and the automated perceptual maze test, respectively, demonstrating convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity. Future directions and potential applications of the spatial network test as an assessment tool to measure planning for researchers and clinicians are discussed in the end.
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