@article {3022, title = {Smart Home Technology: A New Approach for Performance Measurements of Activities of Daily Living and Prediction of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults.}, journal = {J Alzheimers Dis}, volume = {68}, year = {2019}, month = {2019}, pages = {85-96}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Functional assessment is of paramount importance when mild cognitive impairment is suspected, but common assessment tools such as questionnaires lack sensitivity. An alternative and innovative approach consists in using sensor technology in smart apartments during scenario-based assessments of instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). However, studies that investigate this approach are scarce and the technology used is not always transposable in healthcare settings.

OBJECTIVE: To explore whether simple and wireless technology used in two different smart environments could add value to performance and rater-based measures of IADL when it comes to predicting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in older adults.

METHODS: Twenty-six (26) cognitively healthy older adults (CH) and 22 older adults with MCI were recruited. Functional performance in a set of five scripted tasks was evaluated with sensor-based observations (motion, contact, and electric sensors) and performance-based measures (rated with videotapes). The five tasks could be performed in any order and were detailed on an instruction sheet given to participants.

RESULTS: Sensor-based observations showed that participants with MCI spent more time in the kitchen and looking into the fridge and kitchen cabinets than CH participants. Moreover, these measures were negatively associated with memory and executive performances of participants and significantly contributed to the prediction of MCI.

CONCLUSION: Simple, wireless, and sensor-based technology holds potential for the detection of MCI in older adults as they perform daily tasks. However, some limits are discussed and we offer recommendations to improve the usefulness of this innovative approach.

}, issn = {1875-8908}, doi = {10.3233/JAD-180652}, author = {Lussier, Maxime and Adam, St{\'e}phane and Chikhaoui, Belkacem and Consel, Charles and Gagnon, Mathieu and Gilbert, Brigitte and Giroux, Sylvain and Guay, Manon and Carol Hudon and Imbeault, H{\'e}l{\`e}ne and Langlois, Francis and Jo{\"e}l Macoir and Pigot, H{\'e}l{\`e}ne and Talbot, Lise and Bier, Nathalie} } @article {1244, title = {Cooking "shrimp {\`a} la cr{\'e}ole": a pilot study of an ecological rehabilitation in semantic dementia.}, journal = {Neuropsychol Rehabil}, volume = {21}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Aug}, pages = {455-83}, abstract = {

New learning in semantic dementia (SD) seems to be tied to a specific temporal and spatial context. Thus, cognitive rehabilitation could capitalise upon preserved episodic memory and focus on everyday activities which, once learned, will have an impact in everyday life. This pilot study thus explores the effectiveness of an ecological approach in one patient suffering from SD. EC, a 68-year-old woman with SD, stopped cooking complex meals due to a substantial loss of knowledge related to all food types. The therapy consisted of preparing a target recipe. She was asked to generate semantic attributes of ingredients found in one target, one control and two no-therapy recipes. The number of recipes cooked by EC between therapy sessions was computed. She was also asked to prepare a generalisation recipe combining ingredients from the target and control recipes. EC{\textquoteright}s generated semantic attributes (GSA) of ingredients pertaining to the target and control recipes increased significantly (p < .001), compared to the no-therapy recipes (ps > .79). The proportion of meals cooked also increased significantly (p = .021). For the generalisation recipe, she could not succeed without assistance. Frequent food preparation may have provided EC with new memories about the context, usage and appearance of some concepts. These memories seem very context-bound, but EC nonetheless re-introduced some recipes into her day-to-day life. The impact of these results on the relationship between semantic, episodic and procedural memory is discussed, as well as the relevance of an ecological approach in SD.

}, keywords = {Aged, Cognitive Therapy, Cooking, Female, Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration, Humans, Memory Disorders, Neuropsychological Tests, Pilot Projects, Psychomotor Performance, Treatment Outcome}, issn = {1464-0694}, doi = {10.1080/09602011.2011.580614}, author = {Bier, Nathalie and Jo{\"e}l Macoir and Joubert, Sven and Bottari, Carolina and Chayer, C{\'e}line and Pigot, H{\'e}l{\`e}ne and Giroux, Sylvain} }