Quantifying Mild Cognitive Impairments in Older Adults Using Multi-modal Wearable Sensor Data in a Kitchen...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Gerontology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) screening often relies on traditional methods, with limited research on behavioral markers in daily living settings.
• Existing wearable studies for MCI primarily focus on gait analysis in controlled environments.
• Kitchen activities, crucial for daily living, are known to be affected by visuospatial deficits common in MCI.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the use of wrist and eye-tracking wearable sensors for quantifying kitchen activities in individuals with MCI.
• To explore the potential of multimodal sensing for differentiating individuals with MCI from those with normal cognition.
• To identify behavioral markers associated with cognitive decline during a common daily task.

Main Methods:

• Collected multimodal data using wrist and eye-tracking sensors from 19 older adults (11 with MCI, 8 with normal cognition) performing a yogurt bowl preparation task.
• Developed a multimodal analysis model to classify participants based on their sensor data.
• Performed feature importance analysis to understand which behavioral markers are most associated with MCI.

Main Results:

• The multimodal analysis model achieved a 74% F1 score in classifying individuals with MCI from those with normal cognition.
• Feature importance analysis revealed associations between weaker upper limb motor function and delayed eye movements with cognitive decline.
• Findings align with previous research indicating motor and visual-behavioral changes in MCI.

Conclusions:

• This pilot study demonstrates the feasibility of using wearable sensors to monitor behavioral markers of MCI during everyday kitchen activities.
• The findings suggest that multimodal sensing can aid in the early detection of cognitive decline in real-world settings.
• Further large-scale validation studies in home environments are warranted to confirm these promising results.