Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Volume 19, Issue 16, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19169950
Keywords
cognitive function; mild cognitive impairment; spatial memory; virtual reality
Funding
- Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) - Ministry of Education [2021R1I1A3041487]
- Soonchunhyang University Research Fund
- National Research Foundation of Korea [2021R1I1A3041487] Funding Source: Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI), National Science & Technology Information Service (NTIS)
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This study investigates the discriminant power of spatial memory in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and finds that a spatial cognitive task based on virtual reality (SCT-VR) has better sensitivity and specificity than neuropsychological screening tools. The test-retest reliability and concurrent validity of SCT-VR are also confirmed.
Neuropsychological screening tools for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have been widely used. However, to date, their sensitivity and specificity still remain unsatisfied. This study aims to investigate whether spatial memory can discriminate MCI better than neuropsychological screening tools. A total of 56 healthy older adults and 36 older adults with MCI participated in this study; they performed a spatial cognitive task based on virtual reality (SCT-VR), the Korean version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-K), and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised Block Design Test (WAIS-BDT). The discriminant power was compared between the SCT-VR and the MoCA-K, and the reliability and validity of the SCT-VR were analyzed. The spatial memory, assessed by the SCT-VR, showed better sensitivity and specificity (sensitivity: 0.944; specificity: 0.964) than the MoCA-K (sensitivity: 0.857; specificity: 0.746). The test-retest reliability of the SCT-VR was relatively high (ICCs: 0.982, p < 0.001) and the concurrent validity of the SCT-VR with the MoCA-K (r = -0.587, p < 0.001) and the WAIS-BDT (r = -0.594, p < 0.001) was statistically significant. These findings shed light on the importance of spatial memory as a behavioral marker of MCI. The ecologically validated spatial memory tasks based on VR need to be investigated by neuroscientific studies in the future.
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