31 - Helping Neuropsychology Cross the Digital Divide: Sharing Experiences in App Development from four NIH-funded Studies

Development of digital technologies to assess cognitive abilities and day to day functioning is an area of rapid growth and presents opportunities and challenges for neuropsychologists seeking to innovate. The purpose of this workshop is to provide practical information about how neuropsychologists can become involved in app development and implementation in various settings. Using experiences from four NIH-funded studies as illustrations, attendees will learn about all phases of the app lifecycle, including conception of and initial design, working within multidisciplinary teams, implementation in clinic, and working with investors. The studies differ in notable ways, including purpose, population, setting, level of cognitive impairment, and methodology, providing both breadth and depth of information. First, we focus on lessons learned while developing a risk assessment and cognitive screening app for primary care clinics, which uses machine learning (ML) algorithms to compute a cognitive performance score from symbol matching and speech tasks that directly informs primary care providers about next steps for neurocognitive workup. Second, we review the development of an app focused on naturalistic, unobtrusive, continuous monitoring using smartphone sensors to track daily activities in older adults. Third, we highlight findings implementing reminder apps addressing prospective memory lapses in people with mild cognitive impairment and dementia in a randomized clinical trial. Finally, we discuss the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to mine social media posts to inform development of a caregiver app. Across these projects, we review design considerations, ML and AI techniques including voice analysis, data storage and privacy protections, and assessment of usability.