Traditional neuropsychological approaches to assessment are inadequate at capturing the key cognitive and clinical attributes across mental and substance use disorders. The growing enthusiasm for more scalable e-health tools, together with the accessibility of app-based technologies (eg, smartphones, tablets), have provided a unique opportunity for the development of a next generation of assessment tools. The BrainPark Assessment of Cognition (BrainPAC) Project aims to develop a one-of-a-kind electronic battery with industry partners (Torus Games), which is informed by neuroscience, engaging, and clinically useful for the assessment and monitoring of individuals across the spectrum of impulsive-compulsive disorders.
This research program will involve the;
- development and optimisation of cognitive-affective app-based tools with industry partners;
- phenotyping of key constructs endorsed by international experts through a DELPHI consensus process (eg, impulsivity, compulsivity, reward learning) in clinical (eg, rehabilitation facilities) and community samples (eg, online crowdsourcing) to model how these contribute to compulsive behaviours; and
- prototyping of the BrainPAC app as a predictor of treatment response across established (eg, exposure and response prevention therapy) and next-generation therapeutics (eg, exercise, mindfulness meditation, brain stimulation) to move towards a more personalised medicine.