A recent study conducted by the London Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience revealed a new method for examining the cognitive drop in grownups. The study authors gathered their findings from introducing the participants to virtual shopping and evaluating them based on their functional cognition. Other skills that assisted the authors in gathering precise findings include everyday tasks like thinking.
Researchers evaluated volunteers while they carried out everyday tasks
The study authors developed V store, a virtual platform that allowed respondents to shop while evaluating the potential of people’s form of cognition. In addition, the platform allowed the respondents to carry out activities that are similar to actual-life activities. The study focused on 42 healthy respondents ranging from 20 to 79 years. Researchers instructed them to interact with the virtual items.
Following the virtual experience, the volunteers attempted to recall certain activities, including the final 12 products purchased, among others. The study reflected on the activities carried out with people daily. Doing this enabled specialists to investigate the portions of the respondents’ brains that were active in the shopping.
The platform makes it easier for physicians to get accurate information
A recent publication by MedicalXpress also revealed that the virtual platform also had tools that reflected the complications of the progress in each portion of the actual shopping. The platform’s design might exceed the expectations of physicians while consulting on individuals who are at a high risk of a cognitive drop. Due to the features created into the platform, the physicians can acquire the precise data required following a cost-effective test.
Some of the study author’s goals were to analyze specific brain areas such as the hippocampus. They also looked into other brain regions affected by the first stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The study revealed that the platform could employ various operations from a patient’s neurological system. In addition, the platform can exercise various brain functions while the patients carry out different tasks.
Various platforms published the report, including the Journal of Medical Internet Research, among others. The researchers titled the study A Novel Virtual Reality Assessment of Functional Cognition: Validation Study.
