Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is prevalent globally, yet it lacks cost-effective treatment approaches. Deficits in executive functions occur frequently in autism spectrum disorder and present a target for intervention. Here we report the design and development of five smartphone-based games for training working memory in children with ASD. These open-source games, available free of cost to the community, were designed to match the behavioral preferences and sensorimotor abilities of children with ASD. We then conducted a preliminary trial to test the effectiveness of a month-long intervention using these games. Although we did not see a significant change in the working memory of all children with a month-long training, children who performed better on the games also showed more improvement in their working memory, suggesting that a longer intervention with the games might be useful in improving working memory. Using a Hindi translation of the autism treatment evaluation checklist, we also tested the collateral gains of the training in reducing autistic symptoms. We found no significant change in the autistic symptoms after the intervention. Further, there was no correlation between the change in the working memory and the change in the autistic symptoms.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is prevalent globally, yet it lacks cost-effective treatment approaches. Deficits in executive functions occur frequently in autism spectrum disorder and present a target for intervention. Here we report the design and development of five smartphone-based games for training working memory in autistic children. These open-source games, available free of cost to the community, were designed to match the behavioral preferences and sensorimotor abilities of autistic kids. We then conducted a preliminary trial to test the effectiveness of a month-long intervention using these games. Although we did not see a significant change in the working memory of all children with a month-long training, children who performed better on the games also showed more improvement in their working memory, suggesting that a longer intervention with the games might be useful in improving working memory. Using a Hindi translation of the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC), we also tested the far transfer of the training in reducing autistic symptoms. We found no significant change in the autistic symptoms after the intervention. Further, there was no correlation between the change in the working memory and the change in the autistic symptoms.

Most individuals vulnerable to depression do not receive adequate or timely treatment globally. Unguided computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (cCBT) has the potential to bridge this treatment gap. However, the real-world effectiveness of unguided cCBT interventions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), remains inconclusive. In this study, we report the design and development of a new unguided cCBT intervention, TreadWill, and its pragmatic evaluation. TreadWill was designed to be fully automated, engaging, easy to use, and accessible in LMICs. To evaluate its effectiveness and engagement level, we performed a double-blind, fully-remote, randomized controlled trial with 598 participants in India. The use of TreadWill significantly reduced depression-related and anxiety-related symptoms. Compared with a plain-text version with the same therapeutic content, the full-featured version of TreadWill showed significantly higher engagement. Overall, our study provides a new resource and evidence for the use of unguided cCBT as a scalable intervention in LMICs.

b Toyota Motor CorporationJapan.The objective of the study was to investigate age related effects on visual acuity and reflected-glare associated with daytime and nighttime driving conditions. Fifty-six participants (28 young, 28 old) recruited from Virginia Tech student population and Blacksburg Community were tested in the study. Landolt's Circle Method was adopted to assess visual acuity under simulated daytime and nighttime conditions. Although, the age and distance main effects were found to be significant, no differences were reported among all the distances within the young group. The study also examined the effects of reflected headlamp glare on age and mirror types on the basis of angle of incidence, illumination-front-of-eyes and rating scores. The results indicated that with the same glare level (as measured by angle and illumination in front of the eye), elderly adults reported lower glare rating scores (i.e. worse feelings of glare). Furthermore, the young and elderly both reported lower De Boer's rating scores for planar driver-side mirrors than non-planar driver-side mirrors. This result can have practical implications in reducing nighttime discomfort glare for both young and elderly.

BACKGROUND Globally, most individuals who are susceptible to depression do not receive adequate or timely treatment. Unguided computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (cCBT) has the potential to bridge this treatment gap. However, the real-world effectiveness of unguided cCBT interventions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), remains inconclusive. OBJECTIVE In this study, we aimed to report the design and development of a new unguided cCBT–based multicomponent intervention, TreadWill, and its pragmatic evaluation. TreadWill was designed to be fully automated, engaging, easy to use, and accessible to LMICs. METHODS To evaluate the effectiveness of TreadWill and the engagement level, we performed a double-blind, fully remote, and randomized controlled trial with 598 participants in India and analyzed the data using a completer’s analysis. RESULTS The users who completed at least half of the modules in TreadWill showed significant reduction in depression-related (<i>P</i>=.04) and anxiety-related (<i>P</i>=.02) symptoms compared with the waitlist control. Compared with a plain-text version with the same therapeutic content, the full-featured version of TreadWill showed significantly higher engagement (<i>P=</i>.01). CONCLUSIONS Our study provides a new resource and evidence for the use of unguided cCBT as a scalable intervention in LMICs. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03445598; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03445598