TECHNOLOGY AND METHODS FOR DETECTING COGNITIVE DECLINE

1 . A computer-implemented method for determining effects of cognitive loading on a person comprising:

receiving data from at least one physical movement sensor attached to a person, the data recorded while the person is repeatedly performing a physical task and while the person is under cognitive loading during at least some of the performances of the task;

determining physical movements of the person in response to the cognitive loading from the received data for each of the performances of the task; and

determining an effect of cognitive loading based on the physical movements of the person while performing the physical task without cognitive loading and while performing the physical task with cognitive loading.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the physical task is a task of everyday living.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the cognitive loading is a Stroop task.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein determining physical movements of the person comprises:

determining a power spectrum of the sensor data;

comparing a frequency at which the power spectrum has a maximum amplitude with an expected range of frequencies; and

determining that a physical movement has occurred when the frequency at which the power spectrum has a maximum amplitude is within the expected range of frequencies.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein determining physical movements of the person further comprises:

applying a continuous wavelet transform to the sensor data of a physical movement for which it was determined that the physical movement occurred;

generating a scalogram of wavelet coefficients of the continuous wavelet transform;

determining that a physical movement began based on the scalogram;

determining the response time based on the time a stimulus was given and the determined time that the physical movement began; and

identifying the physical movement as correct when the determined physical movement matches an expected physical movement.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein determining an effect of cognitive loading comprises:

determining differences in response times between the physical tasks performed without cognitive loading and the physical tasks performed with cognitive loading.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein determining differences in response times comprises using a Naïve Bayes probability estimator to distinguish between the physical tasks performed without cognitive loading and the physical tasks performed with cognitive loading.

8 . A system for identifying determining effects of cognitive loading on a person comprising:

at least one physical movement sensor attached to a person and adapted to transmit data representing physical movements of at least a portion of the person; and

a computing system comprising a processor, memory accessible by the processor, and computer program instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor, computing system adapted to perform:

receiving data from the at least one physical movement sensor attached to the person, the data recorded while the person is repeatedly performing a physical task and while the person is under cognitive loading during at least some of the performances of the task,

determining physical movements of the person in response to the cognitive loading from the received data for each of the performances of the task, and

determining an effect of cognitive loading based on the physical movements of the person while performing the physical task without cognitive loading and while performing the physical task with cognitive loading.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the physical task is a task of everyday living.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the cognitive loading is a Stroop task.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein determining physical movements of the person comprises:

determining a power spectrum of the sensor data;

comparing a frequency at which the power spectrum has a maximum amplitude with an expected range of frequencies; and

determining that a physical movement has occurred when the frequency at which the power spectrum has a maximum amplitude is within the expected range of frequencies.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein determining physical movements of the person further comprises:

applying a continuous wavelet transform to the sensor data of a physical movement for which it was determined that the physical movement occurred;

generating a scalogram of wavelet coefficients of the continuous wavelet transform;

determining that a physical movement began based on the scalogram;

determining the response time based on the time a stimulus was given and the determined time that the physical movement began; and

identifying the physical movement as correct when the determined physical movement matches an expected physical movement.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein determining an effect of cognitive loading comprises:

determining differences in response times between the physical tasks performed without cognitive loading and the physical tasks performed with cognitive loading.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein determining differences in response times comprises using a Naïve Bayes probability estimator to distinguish between the physical tasks performed without cognitive loading and the physical tasks performed with cognitive loading.

15 . A computer program product for determining effects of cognitive loading on a person, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a computer, to cause the computer to perform a method comprising:

receiving data from at least one physical movement sensor attached to a person, the data recorded while the person is repeatedly performing a physical task and while the person is under cognitive loading during at least some of the performances of the task;

determining physical movements of the person in response to the cognitive loading from the received data for each of the performances of the task; and

determining an effect of cognitive loading based on the physical movements of the person while performing the physical task without cognitive loading and while performing the physical task with cognitive loading.

16 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the physical task is a task of everyday living.

17 . The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the cognitive loading is a Stroop task.

18 . The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein determining physical movements of the person comprises:

determining a power spectrum of the sensor data;

comparing a frequency at which the power spectrum has a maximum amplitude with an expected range of frequencies; and

determining that a physical movement has occurred when the frequency at which the power spectrum has a maximum amplitude is within the expected range of frequencies.

19 . The computer program product of claim 18 , wherein determining physical movements of the person further comprises:

applying a continuous wavelet transform to the sensor data of a physical movement for which it was determined that the physical movement occurred;

generating a scalogram of wavelet coefficients of the continuous wavelet transform;

determining that a physical movement began based on the scalogram;

determining the response time based on the time a stimulus was given and the determined time that the physical movement began; and

identifying the physical movement as correct when the determined physical movement matches an expected physical movement.

20 . The computer program product of claim 19 , wherein determining an effect of cognitive loading comprises:

determining differences in response times between the physical tasks performed without cognitive loading and the physical tasks performed with cognitive loading.

21 . The computer program product of claim 20 , wherein determining differences in response times comprises using a Naïve Bayes probability estimator to distinguish between the physical tasks performed without cognitive loading and the physical tasks performed with cognitive loading.