title: The potential of virtual reality-based training to enhance the functional autonomy of Alzheimer's disease patients in cooking activities: A single case study.
abstract: Impairments in performing activities of daily living occur early in the course of Alzheimer's disease (AD). There is a great need to develop non-pharmacological therapeutic interventions likely to reduce dependency in everyday activities in AD patients. This study investigated whether it was possible to increase autonomy in these patients in cooking activities using interventions based on errorless learning, vanishing-cue, and virtual reality techniques. We recruited a 79-year-old woman who met NINCDS-ADRDA criteria for probable AD. She was trained in four cooking tasks for four days per task, one hour per day, in virtual and in real conditions. Outcome measures included subjective data concerning the therapeutic intervention and the experience of virtual reality, repeated assessments of training activities, neuropsychological scores, and self-esteem and quality of life measures. The results indicated that our patient could relearn some cooking activities using virtual reality techniques. Transfer to real life was also observed. Improvement of the task performance remained stable over time. This case report supports the value of a non-immersive virtual kitchen to help people with AD to relearn cooking activities.
authors.affiliation: a Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de Loire (EA 4638) , LUNAM Université, Université d'Angers , Angers , France.|b Laboratoire Angevin de Recherche en Ingénierie des Systèmes (EA 7315) , LUNAM Université, Université d'Angers , Angers , France.
authors.forename: Déborah A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Foloppe
authors.affiliation: b Laboratoire Angevin de Recherche en Ingénierie des Systèmes (EA 7315) , LUNAM Université, Université d'Angers , Angers , France.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Richard
authors.affiliation: c Department of Applied Electronics, Faculty of Industrial Science and Technology , Tokyo University of Science , Tokyo , Japan.
authors.forename: Takehiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.affiliation: a Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de Loire (EA 4638) , LUNAM Université, Université d'Angers , Angers , France.|d Département de Neurologie , Unité de Neuropsychologie , CHU Angers , France.
authors.forename: Frédérique
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Etcharry-Bouyx
authors.affiliation: a Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de Loire (EA 4638) , LUNAM Université, Université d'Angers , Angers , France.|d Département de Neurologie , Unité de Neuropsychologie , CHU Angers , France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Allain
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D000066530:Neurological Rehabilitation; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted; D000076142:Virtual Reality
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; activities of daily living; cognitive rehabilitation; non-pharmacological intervention; virtual reality