February 2022
in
Springer Link
To evaluate the effects of night shift work on cognitive performance in medical resident physicians.
44 night shift physicians at Hospital General de Mexico were recruited. 12 students with day shift medical careers were also recruited as a control group.
Questionnaires recorded incidents or accidents suffered during or after a day on duty. Each night shift physician completed a 3-session NeuroTracker baseline (20-mins), both 24 hours before a night shift of duty, and at the end of the duty. The control group completed the same baselines before and after a normal day shift of duty. This was repeated again for both groups.
75% of the physicians reported incidents or accidents during their hospital activities, most commonly related to sleepiness during shift work. NeuroTracker pre-night shift baselines were significantly below that of the control group, suggesting some negative longer-term cognitive effects of night shift duties. Post-shift baselines were further significantly reduced (a 25% decrease), revealing short term negative effects of night shift duties. Improvements in cognitive performance from a total of 12 NeuroTracker sessions were found, indicating these effects may be partially mitigated with further NeuroTracker training. The researchers suggested the finding support the value of using such cognitive assessments for the evaluation of medical staff and quality of patient care.
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.
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.
NeuroTracker is a viable tool for training cognitive functions in MS patients, with potential transfer to improve real-life functioning.
To assess the usability of NeuroTracker in patients with MS and their responsiveness to cognitive training effects. Standardized neuropyschological assessments and a driving readiness test (Useful Field of View).
16 patients with MS and 9 age-matched controls completed four 30-minute NeuroTracker training sessions.
MS patients scored lower than controls, however their scores improved at the same rate, suggesting a healthy response to training. Pre-post Neuropsychological assessments showed non-significant changes from training effects, with small to medium effect sizes. For the MS group, the driving readiness test showed a significant increase post-training. The researchers concluded that NeuroTracker can be used to train cognitive skills in patients with MS and may improve may improve real-life functioning such as driving safety.
Individual with Autism can perform NeuroTracker at different cognitive loads and benefit from feedback at low difficulty levels.
To investigate the cognitive characteristics of individuals with with Autism compared to neurotypical individuals in response to different NeuroTracker loads and feedback.
27 adolescents and adults with Autism and 28 neurotypical adolescents and adults ASD were tasked with performing NeuroTracker at low load (1-target tracking) and high load (4-target tracking) across two sessions of training. Half of the participants received feedback on each trial, and half did not.
Although participants with Autism scored lower than neurotypicals, high load sessions were tolerated equally in comparison to low load sessions. Feedback improved NeuroTracker performance overall, except for participants with Autism on the high load sessions. Participants with Autism receiving feedback scored better than neurotypical participants without feedback, but only on the low load sessions. The results suggest that individuals with Autism can perform NeuroTracker at different loads, and that feedback aids performance at low difficulty levels.
To investigate whether performing simultaneous motor and cognitive tasks of varied complexity impact perceptual-cognitive domains in healthy children and youth, with the goal of established dual-task normative concussion baselines more relevant than single-task baselines for daily living activities.
106 healthy children and youth (5–18 years) participants performed motor (postural stability) and cognitive (NeuroTracker) tasks under single- and dual-task conditions. Postural stability was measured during the tasks.
Postural stability decreased under dual-task conditions, but attention was maintained or improved. Consequently, attention took precedence over postural control when performing tasks concurrently, demonstrating the ability for dual-task methodology to isolate specific processes. This study provides a normative dataset to be used during clinical management to identify functional deficits following concussion and acts as a starting point to explore dual-task protocols in children and youth following concussion.
NeuroTracker training is highly accessible and understandable for children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
This feasibility study investigated the viability of implementing an in-classroom NeuroTracker adaptive training program for adolescents with extremely low IQ.
Twenty-six adolescents aged between 11 and 16 years with IQs with the extremely low Weschler-based IQ scores completed 45 training sessions on either the NeuroTracker. Recruitment and retention rates and adherence to the program were assessed. 42% of participants presented a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 15% had a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and 11% had Down syndrome.
100% of all participants meeting the inclusion criteria completed all stages of the study from baseline to post-intervention assessments. The researchers concluded the results suggest that implementing NeuroTracker as a classroom-based intervention is feasible with this population.
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