Trail Making Test in a Multisensory Environment: A Case Study

Measuring cognitive abilities is a challenging and critical task for starting a rehabilitation process. It is usually addressed by employing neuropsychological tests traditionally performed by paper-and-pencil assignments or – more recently – simple digital applications. This practice raises some criticisms as such tests rarely reflect the real context in which the cognitive skills to be measured are used. Our research explores a novel approach to neuropsychological assessment that exploits interactive Multi-Sensory Environments (iMSEs). We transposed the Trail Making Test – an existing neuropsychological test targeting visual attention – into a full-body interactive multisensory experience. The paper describes the design principles that informed the iMSE’s experience and reports the results of a pilot study involving 54 neurotypical and 14 atypical participants. The findings suggest that iMSEs provide a valuable context for performing cognitive assessment tests and improve our understanding of neuropsychological constructs.