Social Transmission of Cognitive and Emotional States in the Care of Alzheimer's Disease Patients

Project summary

Project acronym

STAD

Main Thematic area

C - Health

C.2 - Translational medicine in regenerative medicine, neurodegenerative and rare diseases;

Secondary Thematic area

D - Social Sciences and humanities including gender studies and social inclusion studies

D.4 - Social and economic inclusion of disadvantages groups;

Key words

health

neurodegenerative disease

social inclusion

quality of life

virtual reality

Principal investigator

Ioana Carcea

Project promoter

UNIVERSITATEA NATIONALA DE ARTA TEATRALA SI CINEMATOGRAFICA "ION LUCA CARAGIALE" DIN BUCURESTI

Funding

RO Research Programme - EEA Grants

Partners

Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, NTNU

Location

Bucharest

Period of implementation

2019-06-01 to 2024-04-30

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Project in a nutshell

In the STAD project, the researchers have tested if social interactions and autobiographical recollections driven by a virtual reality task could improve memory and affective states for subjects with dementia in a series of 6 research activities.

To answer the question, they have adapted three tasks inspired by social interactions used in theatre training and drama therapy and applied them in research. Two of the tasks were adapted, produced and developed for use in virtual reality, the third task was film-based.

The tasks provided the opportunity to study how social interaction, cooperation, physical or virtual presence, synchrony, and olfactive stimulation contribute to spatial, autobiographical end episodic memory for the young, the elderly, and persons affected by early cognitive decline. In their research activities, they have collected behavioural, hormonal and functional data (EEG, icEEG and fMRI) from more than 300 subjects of which more than 120 of them elderly. The tasks were also tested by persons with cognitive decline for further deployment in care facilities and at home.

Socio-economic impact

While stimulation of autobiographical memory in VR proves more efficient in terms of duration and memorability than other forms of stimulation, our data also indicates that VR stimulation failed to maintain peripheral levels of oxytocin, suggesting less efficient social activation. In our combined memory tasks, functional fMRI and EEG data indicate that spatial navigation and social interaction in virtual tasks emerge as dependent on the type of collaboration with a real partner or virtual one.

Intracranial EEG data also shows specific theta activation in the left hippocampus when subjects are collaborating with a real partner in a virtual task when compared to a virtual partner, activation correlated with a better performance. Altogether, the results indicate the need for extra care when designing social interactions in virtual reality and the need for further inquiry to compensate for the effects of direct social interaction which might not be reproducible in virtual reality. Effects of social interaction on memory also seem moderated by personality and age indicating a need for specially designed tasks for the elderly based on personality type.

Additionally, the team have observed moderating effects of oxytocin on affect and especially of basal oxytocin levels on positive affect gains following a theatrical procedure-based social interaction. The results were published in international research journals. More importantly, the designed task was tested with subjects affected by cognitive decline and elicited very vivid memories for subjects who also found the VR experience as stimulating and easy to use. Through the partnership with National Theatre Bucharest elderly subjects participating in the activities participated also at theatre performances.

Research in the spotlight

The prevalence of dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders will continue to increase during this century. The question is how social contexts could improve different types of memory (spatial, episodic, and autobiographical) and how we can use this understanding to alleviate memory disorders in early Alzheimer’s patients.

Dr. Ioana Carcea conducts a research study that helps re-design the standard of care in Alzheimer’s disease, arguing for more social interactions in care facilities or at home.

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