Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International

Published purpose

Research has shown that engaging in cognitively stimulating activities and habits can help stave off dementia. Digital technologies can be used as tools to enhance our cognitive abilities. Compared to mobile applications, virtual reality (VR) holds particular promise due to its ability to immersively engage the user with multisensory stimulation. Providing simulated real-world activities in the VR environment allows repeat practice of skills and strategies in deficit areas, promoting improvement in the long term. VR combined with sensors such as electroencephalography (EEG) enables training custom to the user, such as neurofeedback. Neurofeedback is a technique that presents real-time feedback of a user’s own brain activity to reinforce healthy brain function. NRC and ATR will investigate the use of VR and neurofeedback (via Brain Machine Interface (BMI)) for cognitive assessment and training. The project will build on previous work, where we have shown that BMI combined with VR can improve attention switching in the performance of a simulated everyday task, in healthy adults. In this project, we are proposing to test this technology in groups of older adults (healthy, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia), where we aim to demonstrate that 1) VR-based training is valid, feasible, usable and acceptable, 2) VR-based training results in quantifiable cognitive improvement in everyday functioning and 3) EEG measures related to cognitive performance can be identified.