September 2022
in
Rhythms in Healthcare
To investigate if older populations with clinically diagnosed cognitive impairments associated with fine-motor skills difficulties could measurably benefit from a short cognitive training intervention.
38 elderly participants, half with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and half with mild dementia (MD) completed a total of 36 sessions of NeuroTracker training. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test was used to assess the baseline cognitive status, and two batteries of manual motor skills assessments completed before and after the training program.
The results showed clear and significant post-training improvements in both manual dexterity tests. Analysis indicated that only 90-minutes of NeuroTracker training was needed to achieve these benefits with these populations. The researchers concluded that this type of intervention could have a broad impact on the aging population in terms of their daily quality of life.
SCAT3 and KDT correlate significantly with the variance in NeuroTracker baselines across large male and female athlete populations.
To examine baseline relationships between the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3 (SCAT3), the King-Devick Test (KDT) and 3D Multiple Object Tracking (NeuroTracker).
304 healthy, non-concussed, athletes (101 females, 203 males), ranging in age from 11-20 years old, completed the SCAT3, KDT and NeuroTracker in a single visit. The results were analysed to see if any aspects of the SCAT3 or the KDT predicted 3D NeuroTracker baselines.
Component tests of the SCAT3 and KDT explained a significant amount of the variance in NeuroTracker speed thresholds. King Devick Test, Delayed Recall, and coordination tests had the highest predictive validity for NeuroTracker baselines. The authors suggest that these correlations could lead to valuable information to better inform clinicians responsible for making Return to Play determinations.
Youth with clinically diagnosed mTBI can benefit from NeuroTracker training with significant learning effects.
To examine NeuroTracker learning effects in youth with and without mTBI, and investigate if NeuroTracker can train visual perception after mTBI for stimulating recovery and informing return to activity decisions.
34 male and female participants, aged 9–18 years, completed 18 NeuroTracker Core sessions spread out over 6 visits. 20 of the participants were controls, with no history of mTBI. 14 participants had a recent history of mTBI, but were symptom free.
Both groups improved on the NeuroTracker task over time. The control group showed a strong learning curve, with a 79% increase in speed thresholds over the course of the training. The mTBI group showed minimal learning over the first 6 sessions, then a similarly strong learning curve over the following 12 sessions, with a 66% increase in overall speed thresholds. The difference in learning over the first 6 sessions suggests that cognitive deficits persist at a symptom free stage of post-mTBI, and that better clinical assessments are needed to reveal such functional deficits. The results showed that both healthy youth and youth with mTBI can benefit from NeuroTracker training with significant learning effects. This study suggests that NeuroTracker could serve as an inexpensive and easily accessible tracker of recovery for pediatric mTBIs, and that children may benefit from the training following mTBI.
NeuroTracker baselines more sensitively detect effects on cognition than other cognitive assessments after open heart surgery.
To examine whether cognitive baselines can be used to detect changes in cognitive function in open-heart surgery patients.
16 open-heart surgery patients (av. 60 years) completed NeuroTracker, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and Trails B assessments at 3 time points: 1 to 2 days pre-surgery, at discharge or 1-week post-surgery, and at 12-weeks post-surgery.
No significant differences were detected between baseline and 1-week/discharge measurements on all measures. Patients improved significantly from 1-week/discharge to 12-weeks in NeuroTracker baseline scores. A similar but non-significant trend was found on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. The researchers concluded that post-surgical cognitive changes in heart surgery patients were detectable using NeuroTracker, and that future research should explore whether it is usable for the retraining of cognition after heart surgery.
Children undergoing cancer therapy show cognitive responsiveness to a NeuroTracker training intervention, but with effects varying with age.
To assess the feasibility of NeuroTracker training for this population and the potential cognitive effects of treatment therapy.
40 patients with CNS tumors aged 6–18 years completed 6 block of NeuroTracker training sessions.
Patients aged 10-17 years old responded well to the NeuroTracker training, improving their performance on this task by around 50%-90%. However patients under 9 years of age showed negligible improvements (atypical for subjects of this age). The results may indicate that the young children may be more cognitively sensitive to this type of antitumor therapy.
To evaluate the potential for sports vision training to improve objective and subjective visuomotor function in a low vision patient.
A 37-year-old woman with Usher syndrome underwent a 14-week sports vision training program with pre-post cognitive assessments.
The patient was able to improve the use of remaining visual abilities. A 27 to 31% improvement in hand-eye coordination was achieved along with a 41% improvement NeuroTracker performance. The patient also subjectively reported clear improvements in visual abilities. The researcher concluded sports vision training may reduce the impact of the reduced visual function and aid in activities of daily living.
A variety of egg-based diets over 1-month improve performance on NeuroTracker compared to a no-egg diet.
To evaluate the impact of the nutritional impact of dietary intake of whole eggs, egg white, and egg yolk on visual cognitive performance (NeuroTracker) in healthy older adults.
99 healthy men and women aged 50 to 75 years were randomly assigned to one of five groups with different daily consumption of eggs alongside a record of their usual dietary intake. Over 1-month period participants either consumed four egg whites, two whole regular eggs, two whole omega-3-fortified eggs, four egg yolks, or no eggs (control). During the final 2 weeks of the study all participants completed 15 NeuroTracker.
On average male participants performed significantly better at NeuroTracker than females. All participants on egg-based diets performed significantly better across 2-weeks of NeuroTracker training than the no-egg controls. Findings suggest that whole eggs, egg whites and egg yolks are beneficial for visual cognitive performance in healthy older adults.
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