BIO

Hello, my name is Damamli Dorsey and I am a senior majoring in psychology with a minor in chemistry. I am from Tampa, Florida, but I was born in Jacksonville My research interests include mild cognitive impairments in older adults, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's Disease, and Bollywood directors. My career goals are to become a psychiatrist to work with older adults or children because to me these are some of the most vulnerable populations whose mental conditions may not be recognized. I started this project with Dr. Walter Boot because my grandfather has Alzheimer's and it would have been extremely beneficial to have software that was able to detect his cognitive changes early on. I really do appreciate the time and effort Dr. Boot has put in to help me understand his research and the ability to be an assistant to something truly helpful. My hope is that in the future we can use this research to further our knowledge on how to use video games to help understand cognitive measures.

Video Games and Neuropsychological Tests: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Traditionally, to detect meaningful cognitive change due to aging and age-related disease processes, an older adult might be asked to complete a brief dementia screen at an annual physician visit. However, because these tests are administered infrequently, early detection and treatment of cognitive decline is difficult. Further, performance on classic neuropsychological tests can be impacted by test anxiety. Can casual video games, played occasionally at home, overcome these barriers and help with the early detection of meaningful cognitive decline? A previous study provided insight into how different messages about brain health might improve older adults’ adherence to a videogame-based cognitive intervention study. The current study is a secondary analysis examining the relationship between videogame performance (score) in the intervention and a variety of gold-standard neuropsychological tests to understand the potential of casual games to serve as convenient, enjoyable, and reliable predictors of cognitive status and cognitive change.

Keywords: Video games, neuropsyschological tests, cognitive measures