Design of games for measurement of cognitive impairment

This paper presents the design and validation of two computer games for the monitoring and measurement of cognitive change. Computer games that claim to improve cognitive ability are focused on healthy players while the testing of these games has been limited to healthy adults and has typically not included older adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The two games presented in this paper have specific features to aid and monitor cognitively impaired users including a hint system so that players do not become frustrated with the games. Cognitive performance is measured through a game play log in the Carleton Word Search Game (CWG) and Carleton Sudoku Game (CSG) that has been designed into the games. The paper presents how the measures indicate user performance across the various aspects of game play such as search, logic and general motor skills. The paper presents the results of initial validation tests using cognitive distraction to simulate cognitive impairment.