Bottiroli Sara, Bernini Sara, Cavallini Elena, Sinforiani Elena, Zucchella Chiara, Pazzi Stefania, Cristiani Paolo, Vecchi Tomaso, Tost Daniela, Sandrini Giorgio, Tassorelli Cristina
Faculty of Law, Giustino Fortunato University, Benevento, Italy.
National Neurological Institute C. Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy.
Front Psychol. 2021 Mar 15;12:635410. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.635410. eCollection 2021.
Smart Aging is a serious game (SG) platform that generates a 3D virtual reality environment in which users perform a set of screening tasks designed to allow evaluation of global cognition. Each task replicates activities of daily living performed in a familiar environment. The main goal of the present study was to ascertain whether Smart Aging could differentiate between different types and levels of cognitive impairment in patients with neurodegenerative disease. Ninety-one subjects (mean age = 70.29 ± 7.70 years)-healthy older adults (HCs, = 23), patients with single-domain amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI, = 23), patients with single-domain executive Parkinson's disease MCI (PD-MCI, = 20), and patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (mild AD, = 25)-were enrolled in the study. All participants underwent cognitive evaluations performed using both traditional neuropsychological assessment tools, including the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Overall Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and the Smart Aging platform. We analyzed global scores on Smart Aging indices (i.e., accuracy, time, distance) as well as the Smart Aging total score, looking for differences between the four groups. The findings revealed significant between-group differences in all the Smart Aging indices: accuracy ( < 0.001), time ( < 0.001), distance ( < 0.001), and total Smart Aging score ( < 0.001). The HCs outperformed the mild AD, aMCI, and PD-MCI patients in terms of accuracy, time, distance, and Smart Aging total score. In addition, the mild AD group was outperformed both by the HCs and by the aMCI and PD-MCI patients on accuracy and distance. No significant differences were found between aMCI and PD-MCI patients. Finally, the Smart Aging scores significantly correlated with the results of the neuropsychological assessments used. These findings, although preliminary due to the small sample size, suggest the validity of Smart Aging as a screening tool for the detection of cognitive impairment in patients with neurodegenerative diseases.
智能老化是一个严肃游戏（SG）平台，它能生成一个三维虚拟现实环境，用户在其中执行一系列旨在评估整体认知的筛查任务。每个任务都模拟在熟悉环境中进行的日常生活活动。本研究的主要目的是确定智能老化能否区分神经退行性疾病患者不同类型和程度的认知障碍。91名受试者（平均年龄 = 70.29 ± 7.70岁）——健康老年人（HCs，n = 23）、单领域遗忘型轻度认知障碍（aMCI，n = 23）患者、单领域执行功能帕金森病轻度认知障碍（PD - MCI，n = 20）患者以及轻度阿尔茨海默病（轻度AD，n = 25）患者——参与了本研究。所有参与者都接受了使用传统神经心理学评估工具（包括简易精神状态检查表（MMSE）、蒙特利尔总体认知评估（MoCA））以及智能老化平台进行的认知评估。我们分析了智能老化指标的整体得分（即准确性、时间、距离）以及智能老化总分，以寻找四组之间的差异。研究结果显示，在所有智能老化指标上，组间差异均显著：准确性（p < 0.001）、时间（p < 0.001）、距离（p < 0.001）以及智能老化总得分（p < 0.001）。在准确性、时间、距离以及智能老化总得分方面，健康老年人的表现优于轻度AD、aMCI和PD - MCI患者。此外，在准确性和距离方面，轻度AD组的表现不如健康老年人以及aMCI和PD - MCI患者。aMCI和PD - MCI患者之间未发现显著差异。最后，智能老化得分与所使用的神经心理学评估结果显著相关。尽管由于样本量小，这些发现是初步的，但它们表明智能老化作为检测神经退行性疾病患者认知障碍的筛查工具具有有效性。
