The first two bodies of work below use computer-based games to research the decline of 3D navigational skills (one of the first symptoms exhibited by the onset of dementia of all kinds), and the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), respectively. The third study reports on the correlation that “Less Daily Computer Use is Related to Smaller Hippocampal Volumes in Cognitively Intact Elderly”.

☞ Sea Hero Quest

Sea Hero Quest is a collaboration between Alzheimer’s Research UK, Deutsche Telekom, the game designers Glitchers and scientists at 7 British universities. Recognizing that one of the first symptoms of dementia is loss of navigational skills, Sea Hero Quest mobile was designed to help researchers to understand the mental processes involved in 3D navigation, while at the same time providing a sea journey quest taken by a son attempting to recover the memories his father has lost to dementia. There are three sections to the game: navigation, shooting flares to test orientation, and chasing creatures. Each section is scientifically valid as well as fun and exciting. The game was launched in 2016 and, according to its website (below), nearly 3 million people have played the game up to now,. This amount of play has generated effectively 80 years worth of data, in turn equivalent to about 12,000 years of typical lab-based dementia research.

Here are three links to media articles about the game:

Sea Hero Quest: the mobile phone game helping fight dementia

Game shows that ability to navigate declines at young age

https://blog.strong-brain.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=2135&action=edit

Here is the Wikipedia entry for the game:

Sea Hero Quest [Wikipedia]

And here is the actual game site on the web, where you can download the Mobile and/or VR versions of the game:

Sea Hero Quest [Site]

☞ Virtual Super Market (VSM)

The study reported here uses as “Virtual Super Market” Virtual Reality (VR) brain-training-style program to assess mild cognitive impairment on the part of the player. It is of definite interest since the testing game and assessment can be carried out without an administrator. Here is a link to a media article about the work:

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) detected with brain training game

Here are a link to the original study together with an earlier prototype work:

A Preliminary Study on the Feasibility of Using a Virtual Reality Cognitive Training Application for Remote Detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment

Can a Virtual Reality Cognitive Training Application Fulfill a Dual Role? Using the Virtual Supermarket Cognitive Training Application as a Screening Tool for Mild Cognitive Impairment

☞ Computer Use Time Can Correlate With Cognitive Decline

The study followed 27 ‘cognitively-healthy’, dementia-free adults aged 65 or older over 9 years in Portland. On the one hand, the study used MRI scans to measure the volume of the volunteers’ hippocampus, and on the other hand, data on computer use among participants was collected via mouse movement detection software. Embedded sensor technology monitored their mobility, sleep, socialisation, digital activities and medication intake. The research results showed that an additional hour of computer use each day was linked to a 0.025% larger hippocampal volume, leading to the conclusion that lower computer usage could be used to predict cognitive decline.

Here is a link to a media article about the study:

Computer use could help predict early-stage Alzheimer’s

Here is the original research study:

Less Daily Computer Use is Related to Smaller Hippocampal Volumes in Cognitively Intact Elderly

Here is the Wikipedia entry for Hippocampus:

Hippocampus [Wikipedia]

All the links have been added to Diagnosis & Tests.