Remote online cognitive testing provides insight into the diversity of memory formation in children with typical development and neurodevelopmental disorders (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Understanding memory development has fascinated scientists for over 100 years, with important insights in genetics and molecular mechanisms being provided from animal model testing in the last 3 decades. Nonetheless, unlike for animals, testing memory can be challenging in children, especially when they have neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). In order to leverage those genetic discoveries to develop precise treatment, it was important to develop a test which would allow for easy repeated testing over time, would be done in a comfortable environment for children, and could be done on a large scale to adjust for the important neurodiversity in NDD. OBJECTIVE MISSING METHODS We developed The Memory Game, an online test administered on a tablet, allowing remote testing at longer intervals. We used only pictures to avoid issues with reading and language ability. We also included two types of tasks to dissect the memory circuits involved in NDD: paired associative memory (hippocampus-dependent) and recognition (hippocampus-independent). RESULTS We observed significant performance differences between children with NDD compared to ones with typical development. We also showed more heterogeneous scores in children with NDD and differences in memory decay over time. CONCLUSIONS Our findings show how remote testing can identify developmental differences in learning and memory between individuals with typical development and developmental disorders. Therefore, the Memory Game could prove critical in remote testing as part of clinical trials. Future testing of individuals with gene specific diagnoses will also further our understanding of brain function.