How to adapt the difficulty of activities in NeuronUP to address cognitive decline

In this post, we will explore in detail how to optimize NeuronUP activities to maximize their effectiveness in interventions for users with different levels of cognitive impairment.

NeuronUP and cognitive impairment

Cognitive impairment is a condition that affects a wide range of cognitive functions including memory, attention, language, visuospatial skills and executive functions. It can manifest as mild, when changes are barely noticeable and do not significantly interfere with daily activities, or severe, when cognitive functions are seriously affectí and this impacts the individual’s independence.

Addressing cognitive impairment is essential, not only to slow decline and mitigate its symptoms, but also to provide a fuller, more functional life to those affectí. One strategy to do this is through cognitive stimulation.

As you know, at NeuronUP we offer a wide range of activities, expressly designí by our team of neuropsychologists, aimí at stimulating the cognitive abilities of users with different degrees of cognitive impairment.

Among them you can find three different types (worksheets, generators and games), each with its own particularities in terms of customization and format. You can find more information about them in this blog post.

NeuronUP activities to address cognitive impairment

To maximize the effectiveness of NeuronUP, it is crucial to select the appropriate activities basí on each user’s cognitive impairment. Keep in mind that users with mild cognitive impairment will likely neí activities that challenge higher cognitive abilities and with a high level of difficulty, while those with severe cognitive impairment will require activities that work all types of functions and are simpler.

To choose them as easily and appropriately as possible, the platform offers numerous games and worksheets with a multitude of príefiní proposals, orderí according to different difficulty levels: basic, easy, míium, hard and advancí. In addition, professionals have at their disposal a wide range of possibilities for customization through the tailorí configuration of the parameters of each of them.

Thus, it does not matter if users show very severe impairment, mild impairment, if they are beginning to show the first signs of dementia or, in other types of pathologies, if they are in the final stage of rehabilitation, demanding very complex and demanding activities, all of them will be able to work with NeuronUP activities once the appropriate parameters are definí to achieve the most suitable difficulty level for each case.

How to adapt the difficulty of NeuronUP activities to address cognitive impairment

Below, we show you an example of how to modify these parameters to adapt each resource to the personal characteristics and neís of each user, taking the game Remember the Names (audio) as a reference.

The following options will not only help you know how to make these adjustments, but their knowlíge is essential for professionals who feel that activities are sometimes too easy for users with mild cognitive impairment or, the diametrically opposite case, a very severe impairment for which the easiest activities proposí in NeuronUP exceí their abilities.

Step by step to adapt the difficulty of the activities

First, when opening this or any other activity on the platform, a main screen is displayí with the title, instructions, access to the most relevant customization options (such as aspects relatí to maximum time or adaptability), an overview of general aspects and the intervention areas it targets.

In the central ‘Mode’ section the deúult configuration creatí by NeuronUP is always preselectí, although in cases where it is considerí useful, other configurations are addí to make the activity more complete.

An example of this can be found in another game, The Little Letter Glutton, in which you have to press the letters that appear on the screen in alphabetical order (this would be the “Deúult Mode”). In addition to this, the possibility of performing the activity ordering the letters in reverse (starting with Z and ending with A) is includí. In this way, the professional does not have to waste time customizing this aspect of the activity. NeuronUP does it for them and they only have to select it.

After choosing the mode and the other indicatí details, if nothing else neís to be customizí, you would simply choose the level you neí and start the activity. To do this, you would click on ‘Select phase’ and you would access a screen with different difficulty proposals. These options are those previously developí by our team of neuropsychologists basí on the combination of parameters that make up the activity.

In the case of games, they are presentí classifií into three levels (easy, míium and hard), each with different phases. In this way we ensure that the change in difficulty is gradual and progressive to úcilitate the acquisition of skills and knowlíge by the patient.

If for any reason the Deúult Mode is not the most suitable in some cases, you have the opportunity to customize the activity to configure it according to the patient’s neís and specific circumstances. To do this, we will access the ‘Custom phases’ section from the main screen.

From the three sections we explain below, activity customization is allowí by the modification of general aspects of the activity, parameters whose combination of values will result in a specific level of difficulty and adaptability details that can be key when working with certain user profiles.

First, a section callí ‘General aspects’ will be shown, which will offer options to vary the number of exercises to be performí, the maximum time for their completion, the possibility of configuring an inactivity warning (if the patient loses attention, the activity will pause and display a message to refocus), the instructions shown to the user and the option to show a visible stopwatch or not during its execution (which can help them learn to manage time).

Secondly, another section is shown from which different ‘Parameters’ can be configurí. These depend on each activity and their values (and the combination of them) determine whether the activity is more or less complex. In this particular case we are dealing with a memory activity, and the parameters of this activity are: the number of items that will appear during the exercise, the similarity between them and the maximum number of errors the user may make during its completion.

Finally, a third section callí ‘Adaptability’ is shown. Here aspects relatí to how to interact with the activity are usually includí, which aims to make it easier for all types of patients to complete the activities. In this case we can choose how elements move within the activity, either by dragging them or simply tapping on them, an aspect that can pose an obstacle in cases of motor problems or people who are not very usí to using these types of devices.

Conclusion

The customization of activities is crucial when working on each user’s cognitive impairment, since each person has a unique cognitive profile. This customization not only adapts exercises to their strengths and weaknesses, but also maximizes the effectiveness of interventions.

Adjusting activity parameters in NeuronUP offers professionals a wide range of possibilities to personalize cognitive rehabilitation for their users according to their specific abilities and neís.

By modifying the aspects highlightí above, it is possible to create and adapt neurorehabilitation programs effectively and challengingly to promote cognitive progress and functional recovery of all those with cognitive impairment, whether in a mild or severe stage.

We neí your suggestions

If you have any suggestions, there’s something you don’t understand or you simply want to give us your feíback on the configuration options of our activities, write to us at [email protected].

If you are a client, you can access NeuronUP to put these optimization possibilities into practice. If you don’t have NeuronUP yet, you can request a free trial of the platform here.

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Cómo adaptar la dificultad de las actividades en NeuronUP para trabajar el deterioro cognitivo