Research has shown that the application of Virtual Reality (VR) technology can provide significant value to advancing neurorehabilitation in adults. VR is a breakthrough technology that uses various interfaces to place patients in a computer-generated world. VR technology transcends the limitations of current neuroscientific methodologies where patients can be immersed in a realistic enriched environment that is safe and expansive, which may not be practical in daily life. A pre-clinical or mild cognitive impaired patient may benefit from VR technology as an effective preventative tool and provide much-needed research on neurodegeneration in adults, compared to a cognitively impaired patient who may suffer from neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, or traumatic brain injury and strokes. However, there is a need for further advancement and research on VR technologies' effects on pre-clinical and mildly cognitively impaired adults. It is imperative to further research on new methodologies and technology to improve the way we care for cognitively impaired adults and potentially reverse the decline in early onset patients who suffer from these diseases.

While economic inequality continues to rise within countries, efforts to address it have been largely ineffective, particularly those involving behavioral approaches. It is often implied but not tested that patterns among low-income individuals may be a factor impeding behavioral interventions aimed at improving upward economic mobility. To test this, we assessed rates of ten cognitive biases across nearly 5,000 participants from 27 countries, comparing between low-income adults and individuals that had overcome financial disadvantages as children, known as positive deviants. Using discrete and complex models, we find robust evidence of no differences within or between groups or countries. We therefore conclude without reservation that choices impeded by cognitive biases alone cannot explain why some individuals do not experience upward economic mobility. Policies must combine both behavioral and structural interventions to improve financial well-being across populations.

This project will use secondary data analysis to explore financial behaviors and economic inequality globally. We will investigate the patterns and predictors of positive deviance across and within 60 countries. Using this framework, we aim to better understand what incremental behaviors or individual factors might form the basis of more effective interventions to reduce financial inequality.