Abstract
We developed a virtual reality (VR) test to evaluate the cognitive function of brain-damaged patients in a shopping task with the use of a virtual reality system. The aim of this study was to test if the VR test is applicable to patients with brain damage and to find out its significance by comparing the test performance with the results of other neuropsychological tests. The participants were asked to buy four items in the virtual shopping mall quickly in a rational way. The score for evaluation included the number of items bought correctly, the times to refer to the purchase list, the times to check the items bought in the bag, the numbers of movements between shops, and the total time spent to complete the whole shopping.
The participants were 10 patients with some forms of brain damage (five with cerebrovascular disease and five with traumatic brain injury) and 10 healthy control subjects. The cognitive function of the patients was evaluated using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) , star cancellation and letter cancellation test, Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) , Simple Reaction Time Task (SRT) of Continuous Performance Test, Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (RBMT) , Zoo Map Test, Everyday Memory Checklist (EMC) , and Dysexecutive Questionnaire, while that of the controls was screened using MMSE.
The brain-damaged patients were able to complete the shopping task after a short practice session. However, the mean number of times referring to the list and the mean number of movements were significantly greater for the patients, and the mean total time was significantly longer for the patients than for the normal controls. These scores of the VR test correlated with the scores of MMSE, SDMT, SRT, RBMT, and EMC. The results suggest that the VR test may be able to evaluate the ability of prospective memory and attention in patients with brain damage.
