Serious video games and virtual reality for prevention and neurorehabilitation of cognitive decline because of aging and neurodegeneration

Sokolov, Arseny A.; Collignon, Amélie; Bieler-Aeschlimann, Mélanie

doi:10.1097/wco.0000000000000791

Cited by 50 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…The term VR is frequently used in the wrong way, as some studies improperly define computer-based devices providing stimuli on a monitor (e.g., video games), which clearly lack two out of the three key features of VR, i.e., immersion and presence. As gaming consoles are widely available, clinicians have indeed started to use low-cost commercial immersive systems designed for recreation as an alternative way of delivering VR ( 55 – 57 ), but the lack of specific VR features may result in a limited therapeutic effect of these devices. Moreover, VR systems are often cumbersome and expensive, thus hampering the possibility to perform VR rehabilitation interventions outside the outpatient clinics ( 44 ).…”

Section: Virtual Reality For Cognitive Rehabilitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telemedicine and Virtual Reality for Cognitive Rehabilitation: A Roadmap for the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2020

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The current COVID-19 pandemic presents unprecedented new challenges to public health and medical care delivery. To control viral transmission, social distancing measures have been implemented all over the world, interrupting the access to routine medical care for many individuals with neurological diseases. Cognitive disorders are common in many neurological conditions, e.g., stroke, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's disease, and other types of dementia, Parkinson's disease and parkinsonian syndromes, and multiple sclerosis, and should be addressed by cognitive rehabilitation interventions. To be effective, cognitive rehabilitation programs must be intensive and prolonged over time; however, the current virus containment measures are hampering their implementation. Moreover, the reduced access to cognitive rehabilitation might worsen the relationship between the patient and the healthcare professional. Urgent measures to address issues connected to COVID-19 pandemic are, therefore, needed. Remote communication technologies are increasingly regarded as potential effective options to support health care interventions, including neurorehabilitation and cognitive rehabilitation. Among them, telemedicine, virtual reality, augmented reality, and serious games could be in the forefront of these efforts. We will briefly review current evidence-based recommendations on the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation and offer a perspective on the role of tele-and virtual rehabilitation to achieve adequate cognitive stimulation in the era of social distancing related to COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, we will discuss issues related to their diffusion and propose a roadmap to address them. Methodological and technological improvements might lead to a paradigm shift to promote the delivery of cognitive rehabilitation to people with reduced mobility and in remote regions.

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Section: Virtual Reality For Cognitive Rehabilitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telemedicine and Virtual Reality for Cognitive Rehabilitation: A Roadmap for the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2020

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“…Additionally, cognitive assessment through serious video game playing has been tested in multiple populations, including children and adolescents [ 116 ], adults and older adults [ 117 , 118 ] and as possible tools for cognitive screening in neurodegenerative diseases [ 119 ]. The potentiality of exergames that promote physical activity with and without combined cognitive training for cognitive decline prevention and neurorehabilitation remain to be further explored [ 120 ], particularly in older adults.…”

Section: Monitoring Cognitive Performance and Brain Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wearable Devices for Physical Activity and Healthcare Monitoring in Elderly People: A Critical Review

et al. 2021

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The availability of wearable devices (WDs) to collect biometric information and their use during activities of daily living is significantly increasing in the general population. These small electronic devices, which record fitness and health-related outcomes, have been broadly utilized in industries such as medicine, healthcare, and fitness. Since they are simple to use and progressively cheaper, they have also been used for numerous research purposes. However, despite their increasing popularity, most of these WDs do not accurately measure the proclaimed outcomes. In fact, research is equivocal about whether they are valid and reliable methods to specifically evaluate physical activity and health-related outcomes in older adults, since they are mostly designed and produced considering younger subjects’ physical and mental characteristics. Additionally, their constant evolution through continuous upgrades and redesigned versions, suggests the need for constant up-to-date reviews and research. Accordingly, this article aims to scrutinize the state-of-the-art scientific evidence about the usefulness of WDs, specifically on older adults, to monitor physical activity and health-related outcomes. This critical review not only aims to inform older consumers but also aid researchers in study design when selecting physical activity and healthcare monitoring devices for elderly people.

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“…A crucial component of neurorehabilitation and its success is therapy adherence and repetition. One promising possibility to improve patients' therapy adherence, and thereby its outcome, is to enhance training motivation by means of serious games [1] and immersive virtual reality (iVR) [2,3]. The combination of serious games and iVR allows for the investigation of visual exploration behavior, which is highly relevant in activities of daily living and therefore frequently used in the diagnosis and rehabilitation of patients suffering from a neurodegenerative disease [4][5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Search Task Using Immersive Virtual Reality: Proof-of-Concept Study

Knobel¹,

Kaufmann²,

Gerber³

et al. 2021

JMIR Serious Games

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Background Serious games are gaining increasing importance in neurorehabilitation since they increase motivation and adherence to therapy, thereby potentially improving its outcome. The benefits of serious games, such as the possibility to implement adaptive feedback and the calculation of comparable performance measures, can be even further improved by using immersive virtual reality (iVR), allowing a more intuitive interaction with training devices and higher ecological validity. Objective This study aimed to develop a visual search task embedded in a serious game setting for iVR, including self-adapting difficulty scaling, thus being able to adjust to the needs and ability levels of different groups of individuals. Methods In a two-step process, a serious game in iVR (bird search task) was developed and tested in healthy young (n=21) and elderly (n=23) participants and in a group of patients with impaired visual exploration behavior (ie, patients with hemispatial neglect after right-hemispheric stroke; n=11). Usability, side effects, game experience, immersion, and presence of the iVR serious game were assessed by validated questionnaires. Moreover, in the group of stroke patients, the performance in the iVR serious game was also considered with respect to hemispatial neglect severity, as assessed by established objective hemispatial neglect measures. Results In all 3 groups, reported usability of the iVR serious game was above 4.5 (on a Likert scale with scores ranging from 1 to 5) and reported side effects were infrequent and of low intensity (below 1.5 on a Likert scale with scores ranging from 1 to 4). All 3 groups equally judged the iVR serious game as highly motivating and entertaining. Performance in the game (in terms of mean search time) showed a lateralized increase in search time in patients with hemispatial neglect that varied strongly as a function of objective hemispatial neglect severity. Conclusions The developed iVR serious game, “bird search task,” was a motivating, entertaining, and immersive task, which can, due to its adaptive difficulty scaling, adjust and be played by different populations with different levels of skills, including individuals with cognitive impairments. As a complementary finding, it seems that performance in the game is able to capture typical patterns of impaired visual exploration behavior in hemispatial neglect, as there is a high correlation between performance and neglect severity as assessed with a cancellation task.

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Serious video games and virtual reality for prevention and neurorehabilitation of cognitive decline because of aging and neurodegeneration

Cited by 50 publications

References 65 publications

Telemedicine and Virtual Reality for Cognitive Rehabilitation: A Roadmap for the COVID-19 Pandemic

Telemedicine and Virtual Reality for Cognitive Rehabilitation: A Roadmap for the COVID-19 Pandemic

Wearable Devices for Physical Activity and Healthcare Monitoring in Elderly People: A Critical Review

Development of a Search Task Using Immersive Virtual Reality: Proof-of-Concept Study

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