Combination of cognitive training and assessment using mobile games with elderly participants. (7th December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bonnechère, Bruno; Van Hove, Olivier; Samadoulougou, Sékou; Klass, Malgorzata; Kirakoya‐Samadoulougou, Fati; Sahakian, Barbara
• Is Part Of: Alzheimer's & dementia. Volume 16(2020)Supplement 11
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-12-07
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease -- Periodicals; Alzheimer Disease -- Periodicals; Dementia -- Periodicals; Démence; Maladie d'Alzheimer; Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 616.83
• DOI: 10.1002/alz.041917
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1552-5260

Abstract

Abstract: Background: The decline of cognitive function and psychomotor slowing are two important issues related to aging. Numerous apps and games have been recently developed to challenge the brain with fun and motivating cognitive exercises. Previous studies suggest that these types of games are correlated with cognitive scales in the elderly with and without cognitive impairment. However, little is currently known about the potential of these types of interventions to impact cognitive performance positively, especially with healthy elderly. Therefore the objective of this study was to determine if it is possible to analyze changes in the scores of Cognitive Mobile Games (CMG) over a period of training to learn about the level of score improvement that participants of different ages can reach, as a proxy of cognitive performance. Methods: Scores from 12, 000 subjects aged above 60 years old using 5 commercial CMG were retrospectively analysed over a period of 100 training sessions. Results of the first session were compared using one‐way ANOVA and mixed models were used to subsequently investigate the progression of scores over the period of training for the different age groups. Results: Statistically significant differences were found between the age groups and the initial scores of all the games. We observed that CMG scores increased for all participants, suggesting that all participants improved their cognitive performance. The rate of the score increase is strongly influenced by the age of the participants. There are significant interactions between the age of the participants and the session to predict the evolution of the scores. Conclusion: The current study provides two interesting insights: 1) users who train with the games improve regardless of age, suggesting that even older adults can improve their cognitive performance using new technology. 2) The presented method is a new and innovative way to assess cognitive function since older people perform less well on these types of games combined with previous findings, as expected. This kind of assessment could be used to monitor cognitive function during long term follow‐up and help early detection of cognitive decline and dementia.