Virtual reality-based symptom characterisation with complex motor tracking in adult ADHD and depression

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common mental illness that begins in childhood. The main symptoms of ADHD are inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Until now, the diagnosis of ADHD has been based mainly on symptom descriptions and the patient's reported medical history, rather than on objective neuropsychological testing. One reason for this is that most tests are not very close to reality and therefore do not reflect the problems of ADHD patients in everyday life very well. VR could offer a new, innovative possibility for the development of such a test procedure. Similar to computer games, VR can be used to create realistic virtual environments that people can immerse themselves in and interact with. In order to see to what extent the symptoms identified in this way are unique to ADHD, another patient group will be included in the evaluation. Depressive disorders are mainly characterised by depressed mood, joylessness and listlessness. In addition, however, "cognitive symptoms" can also occur in the context of depression that are similar to the symptoms in the context of ADHD, such as increased distractibility or deficits in sustained attention. Because of this overlap, the two patient groups will be compared in this study.

The aim of this study is to conduct a realistic examination of behavioural, motor and neuropsychological features of ADHD through a VR-based testing procedure and thus to obtain a more accurate picture of the symptomatology as well as to see how this symptomatology is influenced by medication. The study takes place in the VR laboratory of the University Hospital Bonn and consists of 2 individual appointments: a diagnostic appointment and an appointment where the actual VR experiment takes place. Here, a simple task is presented in virtual reality in the form of an office room, while various data such as eye tracking, movements and brain activity are recorded.

If you are interested in participating, please contact:

Laura Asché, MSc.

Julian Pakos, MSc.