A virtual reality cognitive screening tool based on the six cognitive domains.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Gerontology
• Medical Technology

Background:

• Early detection of cognitive impairment is crucial for interventions that slow decline.
• Traditional paper-and-pencil tests may not fully capture real-world cognitive function.
• A novel virtual reality (VR) system, CAVIRE, was developed to assess six cognitive domains.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of the CAVIRE system in differentiating cognitively healthy individuals from those with cognitive impairment.
• To assess the potential of VR-based cognitive assessment in a primary care context.

Main Methods:

• A case-control study involving 109 Asian participants aged 65-84 in Singapore.
• Participants were categorized as cognitively healthy (Montreal Cognitive Assessment [MoCA] ≥26) or cognitively impaired (MoCA <26).
• All participants underwent the CAVIRE assessment, a fully-immersive and automated VR evaluation.

Main Results:

• Cognitively healthy individuals scored higher and had shorter completion times in all six cognitive domains assessed by CAVIRE (p < 0.005).
• Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis yielded an area under the curve of 0.7267.
• The CAVIRE system demonstrated significant ability to discriminate between the two groups.

Conclusions:

• The Cognitive Assessment using Virtual Reality (CAVIRE) system shows potential as a valuable tool for cognitive screening in primary care.
• VR-based assessments offer a promising avenue for more ecologically valid cognitive evaluations.
• CAVIRE can effectively distinguish between healthy cognition and cognitive impairment in older adults.