The progressive ageing of the population is leading to an increasing number of people affected by cognitive decline, including disorders in executive functions (EFs), such as action planning. Current procedures to evaluate cognitive decline are based on neuropsychological tests, but novel methods and approaches start to be investigated. Reach-to-grasp (RG) protocols have shown that intentions can influence the EFs of action planning. In this work, we proposed a novel ring-shaped wearable inertial device, SensRing, to measure kinematic parameters during RG and after-grasp (AG) tasks with different end-goals. The aim is to evaluate whether SensRing can characterize the motor performances of people affected by Mild Neurocognitive Disorder (MND) with impairment in EFs. Eight Individuals with dysexecutive MND, named d-MND, were compared to ten older healthy subjects (HC). They were asked to reach and grasp a can with three different intentions: to drink (DRINK), to place it on a target (PLACE), or to pass it to a partner (PASS). Twenty-one kinematic parameters were extracted from SensRing inertial data. Seven parameters resulted able to differentiate between HC and d-MND in the RG phase, and 8 features resulted significant in the AG phase. d-MND, indeed, had longer reaction times (in RG PLACE), slower peak velocities (in RG PLACE and PASS, in AG DRINK and PLACE), longer deceleration phases (in all RG and AG DRINK), and higher variability (in RG PLACE, in AG DRINK and PASS). Furthermore, d-MND showed no significant differences among conditions, suggesting that impairments in EFs influence their capabilities in modulating the action planning based on the end-goal. Based on this explorative study, the system might have the potential for objectifying the clinical assessment of people affected by d-MND by administering an easy motor test. Although these preliminary results have to be investigated in-depth in a larger sample, the portability, wearability, accuracy, and ease-of use of the system make the SensRing potentially appliable for remote applications at home, including analysis of protocols for neuromotor rehabilitation in patients affected by MND.

中文翻译：

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一种可穿戴的环形惯性系统，用于在“伸手抓握”序列中识别行动计划障碍：一项试点研究

人口逐渐老龄化导致越来越多的人受到认知能力下降的影响，包括执行功能 (EF) 障碍，例如行动计划。目前评估认知能力下降的程序是基于神经心理学测试，但开始研究新的方法和途径。Reach-to-grasp (RG) 协议表明，意图可以影响行动计划的 EF。在这项工作中，我们提出了一种新颖的环形可穿戴惯性装置 SensRing，用于测量具有不同最终目标的 RG 和后抓取 (AG) 任务期间的运动学参数。目的是评估 SensRing 是否可以表征受轻度神经认知障碍 (MND) 影响且 EF 受损的人的运动表现。八名患有执行障碍 MND 的人，名为 d-MND，与十名老年健康受试者 (HC) 进行比较。他们被要求以三种不同的意图伸手去拿一个罐子：喝（DRINK），把它放在目标上（PLACE），或者把它传递给合作伙伴（PASS）。从 SensRing 惯性数据中提取了 21 个运动学参数。在 RG 阶段有 7 个参数能够区分 HC 和 d-MND，在 AG 阶段有 8 个特征具有显着性。事实上，d-MND 具有更长的反应时间（在 RG PLACE 中）、更慢的峰值速度（在 RG PLACE 和 PASS、AG DRINK 和 PLACE 中）、更长的减速阶段（在所有 RG 和 AG DRINK 中）以及更高的可变性（在RG 地点，在 AG DRINK and PASS）。此外，d-MND 在条件之间没有显着差异，表明 EF 的损伤会影响其根据最终目标调整行动计划的能力。基于这项探索性研究，该系统可能有潜力通过执行简单的运动测试来客观化受 d-MND 影响的人的临床评估。尽管必须在更大的样本中深入研究这些初步结果，但系统的便携性、可穿戴性、准确性和易用性使 SensRing 有可能适用于家庭远程应用，包括分析神经运动康复协议受 MND 影响的患者。