Testing a strategy to improve multitasking in Virtual Reality
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Virtual Reality experiment to examine the effects of an alerting strategy on the multitasking ability of people with frontal lobe lesions
IRAS ID
162995
Contact name
Tanya Denmark
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 26 days
Research summary
People with damage to the brain's frontal lobes often have difficulties organising their behaviour, and these difficulties can limit the ability to achieve day-to-day goals, and have consequent negative effects on mood and quality of life. Though these difficulties are well documented in the scientific literature, there are actually very few experimental procedures that can accurately detect them. In this project, we use a Virtual Reality (VR) test of 'multitasking' (i.e. a test that requires the participant to co-ordinate their behaviour to achieve a set of goals), which we hope will pick up on the organisational difficulties experienced by this patient group. A Virtual Reality procedure is used because this can be applied in the clinic relatively quickly in a standard fashion with good experimental control, but mimicking real life requirements. If shown to be valid, in this context, using virtual reality should speed up the development of new approaches to neuropsychological treatment. In this study we will test an 'alerting' strategy that has previously been demonstrated by research at the Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge as an effective procedure in improving performance on related ability in such clinical groups. This will involve playing short bursts of sound to a patient and combining these with brief training on self-monitoring. We will aim to recruit 15 people with frontal lobe lesions from the Neuro-oncology clinics at Kings College Hospital (KCH). Those agreeing to participate will complete two 90-minute sessions including the VR task and a set of brief cognitive tests. We will also recruit 15 medically healthy controls.
REC name
London - London Bridge Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/0306
Date of REC Opinion
15 May 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion