EFSim Test
EFSim Test is a medical device designed for assessing ADHD symptoms in children aged 8–13.
EFSim Test simulates a home-like environment within a virtual reality setting and measures various aspects of attention, executive function, and prospective memory.
EFSim Test is intended for use by healthcare professionals to support diagnostic work. Test results are always interpreted by a healthcare professional. Based on these objective data results, the indicative levels of executive function, attention, and prospective memory deficits in children, as well as their support needs, can be determined. If EFSim Test results deviate from the relevant reference group, it may require further healthcare investigations to confirm and diagnose potential conditions.
EFSim Test
Objective
ADHD diagnosis is typically based on subjective methods such as interviews, observations, and questionnaires. EFSim Test is a unique assessment method as it provides objective information about ADHD traits in the environment where symptoms occur. Concrete data streamlines communication among different parties and aids in potential diagnosis and treatment planning.
Reliable
EFSim Test is a medical device developed in collaboration with top researchers in their field. The research behind the software includes expertise from psychologists and child psychiatrists from the University of Helsinki, Aalto University, and Åbo Akademi University. While traditional tests measuring executive function skills have a weak correlation with everyday problems, EFSim Test demonstrates high ecological validity. It simulates everyday situations in a home-like environment, where symptoms typically manifest.
Fast
When healthcare is strained, waiting times for ADHD assessments are typically long. Diagnosing ADHD is a multi-step process, and access to treatment can be slow. Because ADHD significantly impacts a person’s quality of life and functioning, early identification and intervention are crucial. EFSim Test supports healthcare professionals in their diagnostic work by providing rapid and efficient information about potential ADHD traits. The data from EFSim Test aids in the early identification of even hidden ADHD traits, assists in prioritizing waiting lists, and expedites access to assistance.
RESEARCH
Objective, reliable, and ecologically valid measurement of goal-directed behavior and related cognitive processes, such as executive functions and prospective memory, has proven to be challenging. Difficulties in these cognitive domains can have severe consequences for everyday life, but current neuropsychological tests may not be optimal tools for the comprehensive assessment of such problems. It has been suggested that naturalistic tasks that simulate everyday life activities could provide the researcher and clinician with complementary means to better evaluate these important domains while allowing the assessment of other aspects of behavior, such as the symptoms of various clinical disorders like attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Virtual reality tasks with eye tracking for mild spatial neglect assessment: a pilot study with acute stroke patients Virtual reality tasks with eye tracking for mild spatial neglect assessment: a pilot study with acute stroke patientsIncreasing evidence shows that traditional neuropsychological tests are insensitive for detecting mild unilateral spatial neglect (USN), lack ecological validity, and are unable to clarify USN in all different spatial domains. Here we present a new, fully immersive virtual reality (VR) task battery with integrated eye tracking for mild visual USN and extinction assessment in the acute state of stroke to overthrow these limitations.
Real-world goal-directed behavior reveals aberrant functional connectivity in children with ADHD PsyArXiv Preprints (2023) (ENG)Functional connectomics is a popular approach to investigate the neural underpinnings of developmental disorders of which attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent. Nonetheless, neuronal mechanisms driving the aberrant functional connectivity resulting to ADHD symptoms remain largely unclear. Whereas resting state activity reflecting inherent ’tonic background activity’ is only vaguely connected to behavioral effects, naturalistic neuroscience has provided means to measure ’phasic brain dynamics’ associated with overt manifestation of the symptoms. Here we collected functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data in three experimental conditions, an active virtual reality (VR) task where the participants freely execute goal-directed actions, a passive naturalistic Video Viewing task, and a standard Resting State condition.
Spontaneous memory strategies in a videogame simulating everyday memory tasks Sage JournalsPeople can use different internal strategies to manage their daily tasks, but systematic research on these strategies and their significance for actual performance is still quite sparse. Here we examined self-reported internal strategy use with a 10-block version of the videogame EPELI (Executive Performance in Everyday LIving) in a group of 202 neurotypical adults of 18–50 years of age.