Taking care of people weakened by pathologies related to aging, such as dementia of the Alzheimer’s type, has become a major socio-economic problem. The concepts of smart homes and cognitive assistance seek to overcome cognitive disorders due to dementia or to similar diseases, in order to avoid an institutionalization or to delay it as much as possible.
With considerable advances in new technologies, issues relating to the maintenance of disabled people at home have seen their perspectives. By adding innovating and adapted technological devices in domestic environment, the safety of people weakened by old age or cognitive disorders can be increased. As a consequence, disabled people get some autonomy back and the burden of caregivers can be reduced.
These technologies should be based on a better understanding of the people they seek to assist. Cognitive modelling can help documenting mental mechanisms involved in activities of daily living (ADL) performance. It appears to be the first step towards designing a new generation of assistive devices based on cognitive technology.
This project aims to simulate the progression of Alzheimer’s disease during ADL performance with the cognitive architecture ACT-R.
Detailed model here
In the previous work, the principal means used to model errors done by Alzheimer patients are linked to ACT- R memory mechanisms. However, literature in cognitive psychology demonstrates that errors made in everyday life are not only due to memory impairments. Studies have shown that patients with Alzheimer’s disease suffer from deficits in their executive functions (volition, planning, action monitoring, control, etc.). To be relevant in terms of ADL modelling and simulation, we argue that models should integrate executive processes in order to diversify the set of modelled disorders.
More details here