The ability to efficiently complete everyday tasks was evaluated with a novel, performance-based test called the Virtual Kitchen Challenge (VKC) in college athletes. Analyses focused on the effect of practice and associations between the VKC and conventional measures of cognition.

81 college athletes with and without self-reported concussion completed conventional cognitive tests and the VKC, a nonimmersive virtual-reality task that requires manipulating virtual objects on a touch screen to prepare a breakfast and lunch under two conditions: 1) Training condition with feedback and 2) Test condition without feedback. VKC performance was scored for completion time, percent of time working on-screen, number of interactions with target and distractor objects. Paired t-tests compared VKC Training and Test conditions, correlations examined relations between VKC performance and cognitive tests.

VKC performance was significantly better after practice, as noted by faster completion time, fewer screen interactions, and a higher proportion of time spent on-screen during Test vs. Training conditions. Interactions with distractors were too infrequent for analyses. Correlations showed VKC Training was associated with episodic memory abilities whereas VKC Test scores were associated with executive function. VKC scores did not differ between participants with versus without concussion.

The VKC is a promising portable performance-based measure of subtle functional difficulties for young, high-functioning participants. The VKC automated scoring makes it highly efficient for large studies and clinical settings.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether loss of consciousness (LOC), retrograde amnesia (RA), and anterograde amnesia (AA) independently influence a particular aspect of post-concussion cognitive functioning—across-test intra-individual variability (IIV), or cognitive dispersion.

Concussed athletes (N = 111) were evaluated, on average, 6.04 days post-injury (SD = 5.90; Mdn = 4 days; Range = 1–26 days) via clinical interview and neuropsychological assessment. Primary outcomes of interest included two measures of IIV—an intra-individual standard deviation (ISD) score and a maximum discrepancy (MD) score—computed from 18 norm-referenced variables.

Analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) adjusting for time since injury and sex revealed a significant effect of LOC on the ISD (p = .018, ηp2 = .051) and MD (p = .034, ηp2 = .041) scores, such that athletes with LOC displayed significantly greater IIV than athletes without LOC. In contrast, measures of IIV did not significantly differ between athletes who did and did not experience RA or AA (all p > .05).

LOC, but not RA or AA, was associated with greater variability, or inconsistencies, in cognitive performance acutely following concussion. Though future studies are needed to verify the clinical significance of these findings, our results suggest that LOC may contribute to post-concussion cognitive dysfunction and may be a risk factor for less efficient cognitive functioning.