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LightSword: A Customized Virtual Reality Exergame for Long-Term Cognitive Inhibition Training in Older Adults

Qiuxin Du, Zhen Song, Haiyan Jiang, Xiaoying Wei, Dongdong Weng, Mingming Fan

TL;DR

A customized VR cognitive training exergame based on Dual-task and Stroop paradigms for long-term cognitive inhibition training among healthy older adults and qualitative feedback revealed that older adults exhibited a positive attitude toward long-term training with LightSword, which enhanced their motivation and compliance.

Abstract

The decline of cognitive inhibition significantly impacts older adults' quality of life and well-being, making it a vital public health problem in today's aging society. Previous research has demonstrated that Virtual reality (VR) exergames have great potential to enhance cognitive inhibition among older adults. However, existing commercial VR exergames were unsuitable for older adults' long-term cognitive training due to the inappropriate cognitive activation paradigm, unnecessary complexity, and unbefitting difficulty levels. To bridge these gaps, we developed a customized VR cognitive training exergame (LightSword) based on Dual-task and Stroop paradigms for long-term cognitive inhibition training among healthy older adults. Subsequently, we conducted an eight-month longitudinal user study with 12 older adults aged 60 years and above to demonstrate the effectiveness of LightSword in improving cognitive inhibition. After the training, the cognitive inhibition abilities of older adults were significantly enhanced, with benefits persisting for 6 months. This result indicated that LightSword has both short-term and long-term effects in enhancing cognitive inhibition. Furthermore, qualitative feedback revealed that older adults exhibited a positive attitude toward long-term training with LightSword, which enhanced their motivation and compliance.

LightSword: A Customized Virtual Reality Exergame for Long-Term Cognitive Inhibition Training in Older Adults

TL;DR

A customized VR cognitive training exergame based on Dual-task and Stroop paradigms for long-term cognitive inhibition training among healthy older adults and qualitative feedback revealed that older adults exhibited a positive attitude toward long-term training with LightSword, which enhanced their motivation and compliance.

Abstract

The decline of cognitive inhibition significantly impacts older adults' quality of life and well-being, making it a vital public health problem in today's aging society. Previous research has demonstrated that Virtual reality (VR) exergames have great potential to enhance cognitive inhibition among older adults. However, existing commercial VR exergames were unsuitable for older adults' long-term cognitive training due to the inappropriate cognitive activation paradigm, unnecessary complexity, and unbefitting difficulty levels. To bridge these gaps, we developed a customized VR cognitive training exergame (LightSword) based on Dual-task and Stroop paradigms for long-term cognitive inhibition training among healthy older adults. Subsequently, we conducted an eight-month longitudinal user study with 12 older adults aged 60 years and above to demonstrate the effectiveness of LightSword in improving cognitive inhibition. After the training, the cognitive inhibition abilities of older adults were significantly enhanced, with benefits persisting for 6 months. This result indicated that LightSword has both short-term and long-term effects in enhancing cognitive inhibition. Furthermore, qualitative feedback revealed that older adults exhibited a positive attitude toward long-term training with LightSword, which enhanced their motivation and compliance.
Paper Structure (45 sections, 1 equation, 6 figures)

This paper contains 45 sections, 1 equation, 6 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. Cognitive Inhibition in Aging
  4. Games for Cognitive Inhibition Training
  5. Cognitive Activation Paradigms for Cognitive Inhibition
  6. Customized VR Exergames for Older Adults
  7. Design Goal
  8. DG1: Effectiveness of Training Cognitive Inhibition
  9. DG2: Motivation in Encouraging Active Engagement
  10. DG3: Compliance to Support Long-term Training
  11. DG4: Safety in Prolonged Physical Exercise
  12. Game Implementation
  13. Select Appropriate Cognitive Activation Paradigms to Train Cognitive Inhibition
  14. Customized Settings to Enhancing Motivation in Encouraging Active Engagement
  15. Customized Gradually Increasing Difficulty
  16. ...and 30 more sections

Figures (6)

  • Figure 1: The specific design ideas and methods of two game modes
  • Figure 2: Virtual Environment of LightSword: Left: the UI components of the game; Right: Participants are training with LightSword's color mode.
  • Figure 3: Experimental procedure. The below part is an additional description of the above part.
  • Figure 4: The figure shows the procedure of behavioral cognitive test: (a) Stroop and Reverse Stroop tasks, (b) Go/NoGo task.
  • Figure 5: The GS of older adults in the pre-test, post-test, and after 6 months-test. ($\**: p<0.05$, $\***: p<0.01$, $\****: p<0.001$)
  • ...and 1 more figures