Computer Card Game Detects Cognitive Changes
From: OHSU News - 07/17/2006 

Researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University have shown that the
popular computer card game FreeCell can be modified with cognitive
performance assessment algorithms to help detect cognitive changes in the
elderly. Mild cognitive impairment is a leading indicator of a person's
likelihood to develop dementia, which is most frequently caused by
Alzheimer's disease. "We discovered that we can take an existing computer
game that people already have found enjoyable and extract cognitive
assessment measures from it," said Holly Jimison, OHSU assistant professor of
medical informatics and clinical epidemiology. Playing FreeCell successfully
requires planning, says Jimison, which a key ability that neuropsychologists
try to evaluate in clinical settings. Early trials have highlighted
differences between seniors with even mild cognitive impairment and those
with normal capacity. A "solver" within the program that calculates the
minimal number of moves required to complete the game evaluates each player's
efficiency. Jimison describes the solver as a "dynamic algorithm that is
solving the game at every moment in time, and it knows the minimal number of
steps you would need to complete it." The FreeCell research paved the way for
follow-up studies, such as the research funded by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology's Advanced Technology Program that led to a system
that can adjust the difficulty of the game based on a player's previous
results. As the elderly population increases, Misha Pavel, OHSU professor of
biomedical engineering and computer science and electrical engineering,
believes that unobtrusive home-monitoring technologies will become a mainstay
in health care.  

Read the entire article at:
http://www.ohsu.edu/ohsuedu/newspub/releases/071706dementia.cfm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-07/ohs-ccg071706.php
http://pda.physorg.com/lofi-news-game-cognitive-technology_72435196.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060718090755.htm

Links:
Holly Jimison
http://www.ohsu.edu/dmice/faculty/jimison/

Senior Citizens Play Computer Game to Determine Memory Loss
http://www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Alzheimers/6-07-18-SeniorCitizensPlay.htm

Misha Pavel
http://www.bme.ogi.edu/~pavel/
http://www.cse.ogi.edu/~pavel/pavel.html