Exergaming and Older Adult Cognition

Custom-designed motion-based games for older adults: A review of literature in human-computer interaction

“…Such studies usually feature larger sample sizes and hold multiple interventions over a longer period of time, e.g., research by Anderson-Hanley and colleagues 10 featuring a three-month study with 79 participants showing positive effects of cybercycling on older adult cognition, or research by Aarhus et al 11 exploring the value of the commercially available system Wii Fit in physical therapy in a longterm study with 13 institutionalized older adults. However, a caveat of tightly controlled clinical research studies is they do not hold any implications regarding the deployment of video games for older adults 'in the wild' for the following three reasons: (i) investigators encourage participation in intervention sessions and represent an additional incentive that may not be present in unsupervised play; (ii) investigators and instructors can provide technical support to lower entry barriers to the use of interactive technologies; and (iii) being part of a research study adds to the importance of participating in intervention sessions and might interfere with participant motivation.…”

“…Research has frequently highlighted the potential of motion-based video games for this audience, but also pointed out that video games need to be designed with senior audiences in mind 6 : It has been shown that older adults enjoy playing video games 7,8 and it has been demonstrated in different studies that motion-based games have positive effects on the emotional 9 , cognitive 10 , and physical 11 well-being of older adults. However, concerns regarding the usability and accessibility of motion-based applications for older adults have been brought up by a range of studies 12 , and most work focusing on the design of motionbased interactive technologies has addressed the creation of sports-like experiences to help fight sedentary lifestyles among younger audiences.…”

Aging and Alzheimer’s disease: Comparison and associations from molecular to system level

“…Besides physical activity, cognitive stimulation can also convey a protective effect against cognitive decline in aging and AD (Anderson‐Hanley et al, 2012; Barnes et al, 2013). Spatial navigation training in old age can protect the hippocampus from shrinkage (Lovden et al, 2012).…”

Visual complexity, player experience, performance and physical exertion in motion-based games for older adults

“…and (S3) "I thought it was fun." 1 We applied additional questionnaires and observations to assess player experience. In a series of statements following the completion of all four trials and the according post-trial questionnaires, participants were asked to rank all four versions they played (by ordering randomly sorted screenshots of the same game-scene for each version, as depicted in Figure 3) Player performance.…”

“…In this context, motion-based games are increasingly applied as a means of motivating players to follow through with persistent and often repetitive exercises or therapy routines [3,7,12,21]. Such kinesiatric serious games (KSGs) can also offer guidance and feedback concerning the correct execution of exercises, the players' status and progress [2], and can lead to combined physiological and cognitive benefits [1].…”