Ecologically-oriented approach for cognitive assessment in the elderly

There is a growing body of research focusing on the ecological validity of neuropsychological assessments. For some authors, the neurocognitive tests should be developed to assess the operation of cognitive functions in real-world activities. This subject is particularly important in the elderly, where dysfunctions in daily life activities may signal the occurrence of severe cognitive impairments associated with Alzheimer's disease. Thus, the study reports on the development of virtual reality application for cognitive assessment. The overall results suggest that the use of ecologically oriented VR applications that replicate activities of daily living may be important to understand global cognitive functioning.

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