A company called Nesplora has two CPTs that are administered in virtual reality. Children ages 6–15 can be administered Aula (Climent et al., 2011), which places them in a virtual classroom with a teacher, classmates, and all the furnishings of a classroom. They are asked to respond to some tar- gets that they hear or see on the blackboard and ignore other stimuli, including traditional classroom distractions like peers talking, things happening outside the classroom window, and other students passing notes. Adolescents over the age of 16 and adults can be administered Nesplora’s Aquarium (Climent, 2018), which takes place in a virtual aquarium and has more cognitively demanding and challenging rules for responding to targets that test not only attention but also working memory. Recall that working memory is related to Mirksy’s encode concept, meaning that Aquarium is tap- ping into multiple layers of Mirsky’s attention model. At this point, these are the only commercially available CPTs administered in virtual reality; they have the advantage of modeling real-world atten- tion demands and distractions in a way that is hard to replicate with traditional CPTs administered on desktop and laptop computers.

Although much work is needed in this area, VE-based assessment studies are increasingly establishing norms by demonstrating significant associations between virtual environments and conventional measures. As mentioned above, the Virtual Classroom represents a VR-based neuropsychological assessment that is approaching a normative standard. This is particularly true of Nesplora’s Aula (virtual classroom). Iriarte and colleagues (2016) developed norms for the Nesplora Virtual Classroom from a sample composed of 1,272 participants (48.2% female; age range 6–16 years, M = 10.25, SD = 2.83). Normative findings related to omission errors, commission errors, and hit reaction time revealed that the Nesplora Virtual Classroom CPT paradigm is significantly correlated with the traditional CPT (omission errors; commission errors; hit reaction time) and was found to be more sensitive to reaction time and rate of omission errors than the TOVA. Findings from the normative study also revealed a general pattern of sex and age differences.

Over the last 2 years, virtual tasks have exploded, with ecologically realistic or episodic memory in a shop environment (252, 253), spatial orientation (254), attention (255), and large-scale spatial learning (256). Similarly, standard objects to use in creating these environments (257), and free programming tools (e.g., Unity by Unity Technologies) are making this easier and more standardized (See Figure 8)

EFEC'O questionnaire is an instrument that allows assessing executive functions from an ecological perspective because it is based on a day-by-day behavioral report of an individual. The aim was to validate EFEC'O questionnaire in a self-report format. Participants were 250 Ecuadorian adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years (3/a?e=16.23. SD=\.Ti). As results, there was found a significant internal consistency (a=.64-.95), correlation among items (r=.32-.62), correlation among sub-scales (r=.40-76). confirmatory factor analysis of two factors (x2=3S.S7, CFI=98, RMSEA=. 065 [035-094], SRMR=027) and discriminant capacity in monitoring, cognitive flexibility. organization of material, initiative, working memory and planning of adolescents with differences on academic performance. In the discussion part, results are presented in relation to previous findings and taking on account the importance of having an instrument with an ecological validity to assess executive functions.

Excelente TFG. GRACIAS Alberto Infantes por tu trabajo y Felicidades por tu nota sobresaliente.

Previous studies have revealed that attention and inhibition are impaired in individuals with elevated symptoms of depression and anxiety. Virtual reality (VR)-based neuropsychological assessment may be a valid instrument for assessing attention and inhibition given its higher ecological validity when compared to classical tests. However, it is still unclear as to whether a VR assessment can predict depression and anxiety with the same or higher level of effectiveness and adherence as classical neuropsychological measures. The current study examined the effectiveness of a new VR test, Nesplora Aquarium, by testing participants with low ( N = 41) and elevated ( N = 41) symptoms of depression and anxiety. Participants completed a continuous performance test where they had to respond to stimuli (species of fish) in a virtual aquarium, as well as paper-and-pencil and computerised tests. Participants’ performance in Nesplora Aquarium was positively associated with classic measures of attention and inhibition, and effectively predicted symptoms of depression and anxiety above and beyond traditional cognitive measures such as psychomotor speed and executive functioning, spatial working memory span. Hence, VR is a safe, enjoyable, effective and more ecological alternative for the assessment of attention and inhibition among individuals with elevated anxiety and depression symptoms.

It has been proposed that enhancing motivation supports the learning of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Less is known if inattentive children with no ADHD diagnosis may similarly benefit, when being motivated to engage in an academic task. Using a repeated-measures design, this study investigated the effects of text choice as an intrinsic motivator on the reading comprehension and enjoyment of Year 4 children attending mainstream primary schools (N = 92; aged 8–9 years; 48 boys); comparing those with no attentional difficulties and severe inattention. We hypothesized that 1) choice would increase reading comprehension and enjoyment 2) choice would increase the reading comprehension and enjoyment of children both with severe inattention and no attentional difficulties 3) choice effects would be significantly greater for children with severe inattention than those with no attentional difficulties. Children participated in a reading intervention that included a Choice (experimental) and a No Choice (control) condition. Child inattention was measured via a Virtual Reality Continuous Performance Task (Omission errors, Reaction Time Variability) and Teacher Ratings. Choice significantly increased reading comprehension, but not enjoyment compared with no choice. Choice improved the reading comprehension of children with both severe inattention and no attentional difficulties. Choice did not benefit the reading of severely inattentive children more than that of children with no attentional difficulties. These findings underline the educational benefits of choice for young readers both with severe inattention and no attentional difficulties, which are further discussed drawing on existing theory and research.

Introduction: Deficits in the cognitive domains of attention and memory leave a large impact on everyday activities that are not easily captured in the clinical environment. Therefore, clinicians are compelled to utilize assessment tools that elicit everyday functioning that include real-world contexts and distractions. As a result, the use of computer-assisted assessment has emerged as a tool for capturing everyday functioning in a variety of environments. The purpose of this scoping review is to map how virtual reality, augmented reality, and computer-based programs have implemented distractions for clinical populations.Methods: A scoping review of peer reviewed publications was conducted by searching Pubmed, PsychInfo, Web of Science, Rehabdata, and Scopus databases (1960-October 20, 2020). Authors completed hand-searches for additional published and unpublished studies.Results: Of 616 titles screened, 23 articles met inclusion criteria to include in this review. Primary distraction display modalities included computer monitor displays (n = 12) and head mounted displays (HMD) (n = 7). While computer-assisted assessments included distractions, no systematic approach was utilized to implement them. Primary distractions included both auditory and visual stimuli that were relevant to the task and/or simulated environment. Additional distraction characteristics emerged including location, timing, and intensity that can contribute to overall noticeability.Conclusion: From this review, the authors examined the literature on the implementation of distractions in simulated programming. The authors make recommendations regarding identification, measurement, and programming with suggestions that future studies examining metrics of attention to implement distraction in measurable and meaningful ways. Further, the authors propose that distraction does not universally impact performance negatively but can also enhance performance for clinical populations (e.g. additional sensory stimuli to support focused attention).

Objetivos: Demostrar que pacientes con quejas subjetivas de déficits cognitivos muestran procesos de incapacidad temporal más largos. Demostrar que dichas quejas no siempre se corresponden con déficits reales utilizando pruebas específicas de Realidad Virtual (Nesplora Aquarium), lo que permitiría acortar la duración de la incapacidad en buenas condiciones para el trabajador. (…) Los resultados pueden ser de gran utilidad en prevención laboral y facilitar el adecuado retorno al trabajo tras una IT por TPm. Con el presente estudio, hemos establecido una clara vía de investigación, poniendo de relieve la importancia de utilizar modernas y actuales técnicas de realidad virtual en la valoración psiquiátrica de las funciones cognitivas de los pacientes en situación de IT.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is highly prevalent in children and adolescents, with estimated prevalence ranges from 5.9 to 7.1% globally and 1 to 6.8% in Spain. This has commonly been associated with deficits in attention threads and executive functions. This paper aims to study the cognitive-executive performance of adolescents between the ages of 17 and 23 with an ADHD diagnosis, relative to a control group. The total sample consisted of 120 male participants who were given the Nesplora Aquarium test. Dual execution tasks assessed attention, response speed, and inhibition capability. When comparing the experimental and control groups, statistically significant differences were detected in processing speed, selective attention, and cognitive inhibition [general execution (T_correct_n) (p ¼ 0.008), attention arousal (T_omission_n) (p ¼ 0.008), and processing speed (T_correctreactime_mean) (p ¼ 0.008)]. We demonstrate that a new virtual reality tool, designed to measure attention in people over the age of 16 years, is effective at measuring attention and working memory. In addition, item difficulty and discrimination values were also acceptable.

Aceres et al. (14) presented a VR-CPT test (Nesplora Aquarium) for adolescents and adults that was designed to measure executive function. The study used the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) as the ADHD symptom scale. The results showed that the VR test Nesplora Aquarium significantly predicted current and retrospective ADHD symptoms.

The current case study investigates whether successful psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms will also ameliorate cognitive de cits. We describe the treatment response of a 37-year- old woman diagnosed with PTSD who received eight weekly EMDR sessions. At pre-treatment, the patient reported emotional disturbance on the Beck Depression Inventory-II, and problems with anxiety and sleep. Testing showed high scores on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Symptoms Scale of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Scale-Revised. An evaluation of her attention pro le and other executive functions was conducted with dual execution tasks using a virtual reality program, Nesplora Aquarium. The attention testing data indicated attention-de cit disorder. At the end of the therapy, testing showed improvements in sleep problems and in emotional disturbance and anxiety symptoms on all measures. The attention testing revealed normal scores for her age range in the Nesplora Aquarium test. A follow-up assessment was carried out at 1 month, and it was observed that the patient maintained the improvement achieved. We discuss the relationship between PTSD and cognitive impairment and the value of the Nesplora Aquarium test for cognitive assessments. Our results suggest attentional de cits in this case when performing a continuous execution test with dual execution components that involve the participation of the central executive system of working memory.