An AI-Based Prediction of Cognitive Capacity in Older Adults and Individuals With Mild Cognitive Impairment During Virtual Reality Driving Tasks

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Conditions studied: Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), Virtual Reality, Eye Movement Disorder, Multimodal Monitoring, Older Adults

In brief

Driving ability in older adults is essential for independent mobility and social participation, yet declines under high cognitive load or distraction often lead to visual attention failures such as "look-but-fail-to-see," increasing crash risk. Older adults and individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) show impairments in visual attention, executive control, and visuomotor integration, which are not adequately captured by conventional assessments. Virtual reality (VR) integrated with eye-tracking and upper-limb motion analysis enables ecologically valid simulation of driving scenarios and precise quantification of visuomotor behavior. However, current studies are limited by single-scenario designs, unimodal AI models, and insufficient integration of action-related data. This study proposes a multi-phase framework: Year 1 develops an eye-movement-based AI model for MCI identification; Year 2 integrates multimodal data in VR driving tasks; and Year 3 establishes an explainable AI system with longitudinal validation. The study aims to advance cognitive assessment and develop a digital tool for early MCI detection and driving risk prediction.

Key facts

Study ID: NCT07656389
Run by: National Cheng-Kung University Hospital
People needed: 192
Starts: 2026-06-20
Expected to finish: 2029-12-31
Last updated by the study team: 2026-06-18

Who can join

Age: 30 and older, up to 85. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

(1) a score of 23 or higher on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment; (2) a Clinical Dementia Rating score of 0 for cognitively healthy participants or 0.5 for participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI); (3) healthy young adults aged between 30 and 39 years, and cognitively healthy older adults and participants with MCI aged between 65 and 85 years; (4) right-hand dominance; and (5) adequate visual function to complete VR and eye-tracking tasks, defined as corrected binocular visual acuity of at least 0.5 without severe visual field deficits.

You may not qualify if…

(1) the presence or history of major psychiatric disorders or central nervous system diseases; (2) significant ocular diseases, such as untreated cataracts, active retinal diseases, moderate-to-severe or poorly controlled glaucoma, or marked visual field deficits beyond a specified level; (3) epilepsy; and (4) severe dizziness or VR-induced motion sickness.

Where it is running

National Cheng-Kung University Hospital — Tainan, Taiwan, Taiwan

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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