The Use of Robotics for Cognitive and Motor Training in Older Adults

Ageing brings with it a number of health related issues including decline in cognition and motor functions which are essential to keep the population active and independent. Dementia is on the rise in Singapore with the number of people suffering from this disease projected to increase from 45,000 in the year 2015 to 103,000 in the year 2030. ¹

Although dementia care is receiving a lot of attention, it is equally important to examine secondary prevention measures to delay the onset of this debilitating disease. Recent research has focused on cognitive training for older adults at risk of dementia e.g., Mild Cognitive Impairment ². Although dementing disorders impact both cognitive and motor skills, there is very limited research on motor skill training. The implicit motor learning paradigm trains skills in a cognitively efficient manner and has shown positive results in patients with limited cognitive resources. ³⁴ Errorless learning (minimizing errors) is a form of implicit learning that has shown promise in older adults as well as adults with dementia.⁴'⁵ However this approach, would require multiple individually supervised patient-therapist sessions making it a costly and timeconsuming undertaking.

Instead, technologically advanced robots designed to administer errorless learning could reduce the burden on the healthcare system. As a first step, the proposed pilot study will examine the feasibility of combined training of motor and cognitive skills 'errorlessly' in older adults using robots which have a benefit of combining visual and haptic training components. The findings of this pilot study will be used to seek large-scale funding to run a randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a visuo-haptic platform in populations at risk of dementia i.e. Mild Cognitive Impairment. ²