## 3 Conclusions  
Executive dysfunction is one of the major clinical nonmotor symptoms in early-stage nondemented PD [4], and is particularly disabling due to its high negative impact on daily functioning and quality of life [6; 7; 8]. Since EFs play a key role in everyday life and independent functioning [84; 85], identifying early strategies functional to the ecological evaluation of EFs is crucial to achieve optimal PD management. The ecological limitations of traditional neuropsychological batteries and numerous difficulties in administering tests in real-life scenarios have led to the increasing use of technological instruments, including virtual reality and 360\({}^{\circ}\)environment-based tools for the assessment of EFs in real-life. Advances in 360\({}^{\circ}\) technologies have allowed participants to be evaluated in virtual scenarios that they experience from a first-person perspective, overcoming some limitations (technical and clinical) regarding VR. A preliminary study that used a 360\({}^{\circ}\)-based tool (PIT 360\({}^{\circ}\)) for assessment of executing functioning (only visual-searching component) showed that PIT 360\({}^{\circ}\) could distinguish individuals with PD from controls. EXIT 360\({}^{\circ}\) was designed to obtain information about executive-functioning components while the participants perform everyday tasks in 360\({}^{\circ}\) environments that reproduce different real-life contexts. Our study aims to evaluate the efficacy and usability of EXIT 360\({}^{\circ}\) as an innovative and ecologically valid tool for the evaluation of the EFs in PD. First, it is expected that all participants will evaluate EXIT 360\({}^{\circ}\)as usable, engaging, and challenging, and they will show a high sense of presence while immersed in EXIT 360\({}^{\circ}\). Secondly, we suppose that EXIT 360\({}^{\circ}\) will reveal different performances in individuals with PD compared to HC. Specifically, in line with previous evidence, we expect patients to have more difficulty in responding correctly to subtasks, have delayed exit times from the house, take longer to provide a correct interpretation of the proposed scene, and be more prone to distractor interference. Moreover, patients should show greater difficulty in focusing on the most critical components for a correct interpretation of the scene. In addition, we expect to find a correlation between conventional neuropsychological tests of executive functions and performance on PIT 360\({}^{\circ}\). In other words, we expect to see a convergent validity between the standard tests and EXIT 360\({}^{\circ}\). In this way, EXIT 360\({}^{\circ}\) could be considered a quick, ecological, and useful screening tool capable of evaluating different aspects of dyseexecutive disability in individuals with PD. Further, through the analyses, we expect the results obtained by the classifiers to indicate the potential of the EXIT 360\({}^{\circ}\) evaluation in distinguishing between individuals with PD and HC. It will be interesting to see if EXIT 360\({}^{\circ}\) will have a greater capacity in predicting patients in the PD group compared to a traditional neuropsychological assessment. Furthermore, thanks to an innovative technological device that integrates an ET and EEG, we expect to find, in line with the literature, differences between PD and HC in activating the frontal cortex, and in the antisaccadic eye movements and the number of fixations. The validation of EXIT 360\({}^{\circ}\) as an innovative assessment tool for EFs in PD will allow a quick, ecological, and useful 360\({}^{\circ}\)-based instrument that is easily accessible and that will radically transform the assessment experience for both the clinic and the patient. The clinician will obtain faster, multicomponent, and multidomain evaluations. EXIT 360\({}^{\circ}\) will allow clinicians to simultaneously and quickly (15-20 min) collect data on several components of executive functioning through verbal responses (choosing between three or more \"options\") and reaction time.