ULHT/HEI-Lab - Digital Human- Environment Interaction Lab

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http://hdl.handle.net/10437/12390

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Percorrer ULHT/HEI-Lab - Digital Human- Environment Interaction Lab por autor "Brito, Rodrigo"

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    Cognitive Stimulation of Elderly Individuals with Instrumental Virtual Reality-Based Activities of Daily Life
    (2019-01-01) Gamito, Pedro; Oliveira, Jorge; Morais, Diogo; Coelho, Cátia; Santos, Nuno; Alves, Catarina; Galamba, Ana; Soeiro, Miguel; Brito, Rodrigo; HEI-LAB (FCT) - Digital Laboratories for Environments and Human Interactions
    As the demographic structure in western societies ages, the prevalence and impact of cognitive decline rises. Thus, new solutions to tackle this problem are required. The use of Information and Communication Tech- nologies (ICT)-based cognitive exercises has emerged in the last few decades, though with inconsistent results. Hence, we conducted a pre-post treatment study to further investigate this approach. We designed a set of virtual reality exercises that mimic activities of daily living by which the patient can train different cognitive domains. Twenty-five participants, ages 65–85, underwent 12 training sessions between the pre-treatment and post-treatment assessments. Significant increases were seen between the two assessments for some of the neuropsychological measures: visual memory, attention, and cognitive flexibility. Results also suggest that participants with lower baseline cognitive performance levels improved most after these sessions.
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    Virtual Reality Cognitive Training Among Individuals With Alcohol Use Disorder Undergoing Residential Treatment
    (Edições Universitárias Lusófonas, 2021-01-01) Gamito, Pedro; Oliveira, Jorge; Matias, Marcelo Alexandre Cabaça; Cunha, Elsa Alexandra Pinto Ribeiro da; Brito, Rodrigo; Lopes, Paulo Jorge Ferreira; Deus, Alberto; HEI-LAB (FCT) - Digital Laboratories for Environments and Human Interactions
    Background: Alcoholusedisorder(AUD)hasbeenassociatedwithdiversephysicalandmentalmorbidities.Amongthemain consequences of chronic and excessive alcohol use are cognitive and executive deficits. Some of these deficits may be reversed in specific cognitive and executive domains with behavioral approaches consisting of cognitive training. The advent of computer-based interventions may leverage these improvements, but randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of digital interactive-based interventions are still scarce. Objective: The aim of this study is to explore whether a cognitive training approach using VR exercises based on activities of daily living is feasible for improving the cognitive function of patients with AUD undergoing residential treatment, as well as to estimate the effect size for this intervention to power future definitive RCTs. Methods: This study consisted of a two-arm pilot RCT with a sample of 36 individuals recovering from AUD in a therapeutic community; experimental group participants received a therapist-guided, VR-based cognitive training intervention combined with treatment as usual, and control group participants received treatment as usual without cognitive training. A comprehensive neuropsychological battery of tests was used both at pre- and postassessments, including measurement of global cognition, executive functions, attention, visual memory, and cognitive flexibility. Results: In order to control for potential effects of global cognition and executive functions at baseline, these domains were controlled for in the statistical analysis for each individual outcome. Results indicate intervention effects on attention in two out of five outcomes and on cognitive flexibility in two out of six outcomes, with effect sizes in significant comparisons being larger for attention than for cognitive flexibility. Patient retention in cognitive training was high, in line with previous studies. Conclusions: Overall, the data suggest that VR-based cognitive training results in specific contributions to improving attention ability and cognitive flexibility of patients recovering from AUD. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04505345; https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT04505345
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    Virtual Reality-Based Cognitive Stimulation to Improve Cognitive Functioning in Community Elderly
    (2020-03) Gamito, Pedro; Oliveira, Jorge; Alves, Catarina; Santos, Nuno; Coelho, Cátia; Brito, Rodrigo; HEI-LAB (FCT) - Digital Laboratories for Environments and Human Interactions
    The advantages of using naturalistic virtual reality (VR) environments based on everyday life tasks for cog- nitive intervention in the elderly are not yet well understood. The literature suggests that the similarity of such exercises with real life activities may improve generalizability by extending the transfer of gains of training to everyday living. This study aimed to investigate the gains associated with this ecologically-oriented virtual reality cognitive stimulation (VR-CS) versus standard cognitive stimulation in the elderly. Forty-three healthy older adults were divided into two groups: an experimental group underwent a VR-based cognitive stimulation and an active control group underwent a paper-and-pencil cognitive stimulation. The outcomes assessed at the pre-treatment and posttreatment assessment consisted in well-established tests for cognitive and executive functioning, depression, subjective well-being, and functionality. The results showed positive outcomes on dimensions of general cognition, executive functioning, attention, and visual memory in the group that un- derwent VR-CS. Improvements in executive functioning in this group was supported by consistent evidence of increases in attention abilities but little evidence of increases in memory abilities. Both effects may have contributed to improvements in general cognition. Further studies are needed to test whether these effects may extend to well-being and functionality in cognitively impaired older adults.