Over the last years, a paradigm shift in neuropsychological assessment has been observed: from a localizationist perspective to one focused on predicting everyday function. In numerous clinical disorders, cognitive deficits lead to compromises in functional abilities. However, current assessment instruments fail to be representative of real-world abilities, not allowing the prediction of the ability to perform activities of daily living.
Technological solutions, such as virtual reality(VR) and wearable technologies, seem to be promising approaches in neuropsychological assessment, allowing the simulation of real-life situations(through VR) and real-time assessment of physiological measures(e.g., heart rate) that relate to cognition(e.g., cognitive workload).
We will explore the development of innovative instruments that capture the advantages of performance-based metrics in real environments (through virtual simulations) and of objective information about the person’s internal state (through physiological measures).