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A comparison of immersive virtual reality with traditional neuropsychological measures in the assessment of executive functions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2017

Sophie Melissa Clare Davison ,
Catherine Deeprose  and
Sylvia Terbeck
Sophie Melissa Clare Davison
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
Catherine Deeprose*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
Sylvia Terbeck
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
*
Dr. Catherine Deeprose, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, England. Tel: +44 (0) 1752 585883; E-mail: catherine.deeprose@plymouth.ac.uk
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Abstract

Objective

This study investigated immersive virtual reality (IVR), as a novel technique to test executive function of healthy younger and older adults. We predicted IVR tasks to have greater predictive power than traditional measures when assessing age-related cognitive functioning due to the real-world validity of the tasks.

Methods

Participants (n=40) completed the Stroop colour–word test and the trail-making test (TMT) as traditional and commonly used assessments of executive functioning. Participants then completed three IVR tasks; a seating arrangement task, an item location task (both set in a virtual chemistry lab), and a virtual parking simulator.

Results

Younger adults completed significantly more parking simulator levels (p<0.001), placed significantly more objects (p<0.001), and located significantly more items than older adults (p<0.01), demonstrating higher levels of performance. Significant correlations were found between performance on traditional neuropsychological measures and IVR measures. For example, Stroop CW performance significantly correlated with the number of parking simulator levels completed (τ=0.43, p<0.01). This suggests that IVR measures assess the same underlying cognitive constructs as traditional tasks. In addition, IVR measures contributed a significant percentage of the explained variance in age.

Conclusion

IVR measures (i.e. number of parking simulator levels completed and number of objects placed in the seating arrangement task) were found to be stronger contributors than existing traditional neuropsychological tasks in predicting age-related cognitive decline. Future research should investigate the implementation of these real-world-based tasks in clinical groups given this promising initial work.

Keywords

ageingexecutive functionimmersive virtual realityneuropsychological assessment
Type
Original Article
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , April 2018 , pp. 79 - 89
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Copyright
© Scandinavian College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2017 

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