Spatial navigation is a high-level cognitive function allowing animals and humans to orient and move in space by constructing a mental representation of the environment. This function has been identified as one of the very first to be affected by Alzheimer's disease, including at the early stages, before the appearance of other mnesic disorders that the latter causes, such as those of episodic memory. However, the neuropsychological tests currently used in the diagnosis of cognitive disorders do not allow effective assessment of spatial memory impairment, in particular because it is impractical to offer spatial orientation tasks in a consulting room. In this context, virtual reality offers very interesting perspectives: it makes it possible to create controlled environments to assess spatial memory, without leaving the place of consultation. Before being able to test its possible diagnostic efficacy, it is imperative to test the feasibility as well as the reliability of this type of task on an elderly population with no cognitive impairment. The data currently available on immersion tolerance in virtual reality mainly concern young people aged 18 to 35 and little data is available concerning the elderly or very old. If this task correctly assesses spatial navigation abilities, this study should find the effects of age and sex usually observed. The aim of this study is to assess the tolerance of an immersive virtual reality task evaluating the spatial memory of elderly subjects and the effects of age, gender and level of education on performance.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
84
participants will have to wear a virtual reality headset connected to a remote control and will have to perform submersive virtual reality tasks
Charpennes Geriatric Hospital, Lyon University Hospital
Villeurbanne, France
Sickness Simulator Questionnaire (SSQ) score
This is a questionnaire composed of 16 items covering the potential symptoms of intolerance to a virtual reality tool. Each item is rated 0 (no symptom), 1 (mild symptom), 2 (moderate symptom) or 3 (severe symptom). The total score is obtained by multiplying the sum of the items by 3.74, and therefore varies from 0 to 180.
Time frame: The sickness simulator scale is assessed immediately after the immersive virtual reality task.
Time to complete the task in immersive virtual reality according to the age of the participants
Time to complete the task in immersive virtual reality (in seconds) according to the age of participants (in years)
Time frame: through study completion, 1 year
Time to complete the task in immersive virtual reality (in seconds) according to the gender of participants (male or female)
Time to complete the task in immersive virtual reality according to the gender of participants
Time frame: through study completion, 1 year
Time to complete the task in immersive virtual reality according to the number of years of study
Time to complete the task in immersive virtual reality (in seconds) according to the number of years of study (from entry into primary school)
Time frame: through study completion, 1 year
Raw score on the Wechsler Memory Scale-III (MEM III) Spatial Memory subtest
The test is designed for adults and the elderly to assess the performance of auditory memory, visual memory, memory immediate, delayed and visual working memory.The subtest used is the Spatial Memory subtest, it ranges from 0 to 28 (the higher the score, the better the performance).
Time frame: through study completion, 1 year
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