A Serious Game for Early Detection and Assessment of Social Apathy: A Pilot Study

With increasing life expectancy, the prevalence of age-related disorders such as dementia, often preceded by mild cognitive impairment (MCI), has risen significantly. Among the early signs of cognitive decline, social apathy stands out as a key indicator, associated with an increased risk of progression to dementia. In this context, we present ApathySEED, a serious game developed to assess social apathy in individuals with MCI. The game uses decision-making in social scenarios to evaluate apathy across initiative, interest, and emotion subdomains. A pilot study involving 33 healthy participants was conducted to validate the game’s usability and effectiveness as a tool for assessing social apathy. Standardized questionnaires, including SUS, NASA-TLX, and AMI, were used to measure game performance, cognitive load, and apathy levels. Results suggest that ApathySEED is a promising tool for apathy assessment, with low cognitive load and high usability, making it suitable for future clinical utilization.