Exploring the potential of programming tasks to benefit patients with mild cognitive impairment

Abstract

In the context of the ASPAD project we explored the potential of robot programming tasks to benefit patients with MCI (mild cognitive impairment), when implemented as a form of cognitive training with the use of a user-friendly tangible interface. In this paper, we present relevant research evidence indicating that: (a) there is a significant negative correlation between patients' MMSE index and "Programming Task Completion Time" (PTCT) index, suggesting that PTCT can be used as a precursor of patients' general mental state; (b) MCI patients (treatment group) displayed significantly improved post-test performance in the "Test of Everyday Attention" when compared to a non-hospitalized non-otherwise treated control group. We conclude that available evidence encourage further investigation of the impact of programming tasks on MCI patients, as a cognitive training and assessment tool, in relation to important mental skills (such as analysis and planning) and cognitive processes such as attention.