Change in Executive Function and IADL Using a Virtual Supermarket Environment Among People With MCI

Overview

The aim of the study is to investigate the feasibility of using a virtual supermarket as an intervention tool for overcoming deficits in executive function as well as enhancing IADL performance among persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment. The working hypotheses are that there will be improvement in executive functions, and the improvement in the executive functions will result in better performance in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, both generally and especially in shopping task

Scientific and clinical research in the area of Alzheimer's disease (AD) during the last years have shifted their focus to earlier diagnosis and especially to the transitional phase between normal aging and dementia, named Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).Lately, the concept of MCI has been expanded to address observed clinical heterogeneity, and subtypes were recognized: amnestic (including memory impairment) and non-amnestic (including impairment in other non-memory cognitive domains), with the later including deficits in executive functioning Executive functions (EF) are defined as higher order functions that are needed for completing complex or non-routine tasks. Deficits in EF refer to a collection of deficits in attention, planning, problem-solving, multitasking, monitoring and behavioral control and persons who suffer from impairments in EF typically have difficulty in initiating or suspending activities, show impaired mental flexibility, as well as increased distractibility and have difficulty in learning novel tasks despite apparently intact cognitive abilities. Lately, an increasing amount of studies suggest that persons with MCI might have deficits in EF, moreover, persons presenting a combination of executive deficits and memory deficits were found to be a high risk group for conversion to AD.

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes

Central Contacts