Zając-Lamparska Ludmiła, Wiłkość-Dębczyńska Monika, Wojciechowski Adam, Podhorecka Marta, Polak-Szabela Anna, Warchoł Łukasz, Kędziora-Kornatowska Kornelia, Araszkiewicz Aleksander, Izdebski Paweł
Faculty of Psychology, Kazimierz Wielki University, Staffa 1, 85-867, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Institute of Information Technology, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland.
BMC Res Notes. 2019 Nov 27;12(1):776. doi: 10.1186/s13104-019-4810-2.
Modern technologies are increasingly used in the development of cognitive interventions for older adults. Research into possible applications of virtual reality in such interventions has begun only recently. The aim of present study was to evaluate the effects of 8 sessions of VR-based cognitive training using the GRADYS game in healthy older adults (n = 72; aged 60-88) and older adults living with mild dementia (n = 27; aged 60-89).
Older adults with mild dementia demonstrated worse baseline cognitive performance than participants without dementia. Both groups showed progress in training, which was greater in healthy older adults. There were also significant differences in cognitive functioning before and after the training. However, positive changes were revealed almost exclusively in the group of older adults without dementia. Based on the findings, we can recommend the GRADYS game for cognitive enhancement and as a possible counter-measure for cognitive decline experienced in normal cognitive ageing. Our results provide also support for the usefulness of VR technology in cognitive interventions in older adults. The use of the GRADYS game in persons living with dementia, however, would require several of the hardware and software modifications. Trial registration ISRCTN17613444, date of registration: 10.09.2019. Retrospectively registered.
现代技术越来越多地应用于老年人认知干预的开发。虚拟现实在这类干预中的可能应用研究直到最近才开始。本研究的目的是评估使用GRADYS游戏进行8次基于虚拟现实的认知训练对健康老年人（n = 72；年龄60 - 88岁）和患有轻度痴呆的老年人（n = 27；年龄60 - 89岁）的影响。
患有轻度痴呆的老年人基线认知表现比无痴呆参与者差。两组在训练中均有进步，健康老年人的进步更大。训练前后认知功能也存在显著差异。然而，几乎只有无痴呆的老年人群体出现了积极变化。基于这些发现，我们可以推荐GRADYS游戏用于认知增强，并作为应对正常认知老化过程中认知衰退的一种可能对策。我们的结果也支持了虚拟现实技术在老年人认知干预中的有效性。然而，在患有痴呆症的人群中使用GRADYS游戏需要对硬件和软件进行一些修改。试验注册：ISRCTN17613444，注册日期：2019年9月10日。回顾性注册。
