Kimura Kazushige, Moussavi Zahra
Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Neurosci Insights. 2021 Jan 24;16:2633105520988861. doi: 10.1177/2633105520988861. eCollection 2021.
We evaluated the outcomes of an intervention using a serious game designed to be played on iPads for improving spatial reorientation by training users to integrate geometry of the environment, instead of relying solely on featural cues. Using data logged online through a clinical study of using this game, the effect of training among 16 older adults (69.3 ± 6.4 years, 4 males), who played the game repeatedly (self-administered) over a period of 8 weeks, was investigated. The game contains a hexagonal room with 3 objects, textured walls, and grids on the floor, which are removed one by one as the participant played the game. In each level, the room also rotates such that the viewpoint of the user is different from that of the previous level. Participants cannot play a higher level unless they make no mistake during the trials of the lower test level. In addition to data of older adults available from that clinical trial, we recruited 16 young adults (27.3 ± 5.6 years, 4 males) to play the game for 5 sessions and compared their results with those of the older adults. We evaluated the error type made in each test level and the scores for each session among older adults. Further, we compared the frequency of each error type between young and older adults during the test levels that a landmark adjacent to the target was removed over the first 5 sessions. The results of older adults' performance suggest they learned to make fewer mistakes over the sessions. Also, both young and older adults learned to integrate the geometrical cues rather than relying on the landmark cue adjacent to the target to find the target. Overall, the results indicate the designed hexagonal room game can enhance spatial cognition among all age groups of adults.
我们评估了一种干预措施的效果，该干预使用一款专为在iPad上玩而设计的严肃游戏，通过训练用户整合环境几何信息来改善空间重新定向能力，而非仅仅依赖特征线索。利用通过该游戏临床研究在线记录的数据，我们调查了16名老年人（69.3±6.4岁，4名男性）在8周内反复（自行操作）玩该游戏后的训练效果。该游戏包含一个有3个物体的六边形房间、有纹理的墙壁和地板网格，参与者玩游戏时这些元素会逐一移除。在每个关卡中，房间还会旋转，使得用户的视角与上一关不同。参与者只有在较低测试关卡的试验中不犯错才能进入更高关卡。除了从该临床试验中获得的老年人数据外，我们还招募了16名年轻人（27.3±5.6岁，4名男性）玩该游戏5次，并将他们的结果与老年人的结果进行比较。我们评估了老年人在每个测试关卡中犯的错误类型以及每次游戏的得分。此外，我们比较了年轻人和老年人在前5次游戏中目标相邻地标被移除的测试关卡中每种错误类型的出现频率。老年人的表现结果表明他们在游戏过程中犯错越来越少。而且，年轻人和老年人都学会了整合几何线索，而不是依赖目标相邻的地标线索来找到目标。总体而言，结果表明设计的六边形房间游戏可以增强所有年龄段成年人的空间认知能力。
