Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a stage preceding dementia, and early intervention is critical. This study investigated whether multi-domain cognitive training programs, especially robot-assisted training, conducted 12 times, twice a week for 6 weeks can improve cognitive function and depression decline in community-dwelling older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 135 volunteers without cognitive impairment aged 60 years old or older. Participants were first randomized into two groups. One group consisted of 90 participants who would receive cognitive training and 45 who would not receive any training (NI). The cognitive training group was randomly divided into two groups, 45 who received traditional cognitive training (TCT) and 45 who received robot-assisted cognitive training (RACT). The training for both groups consisted of a daily 60 min session, twice a week for six weeks.
Results: RACT participants had significantly greater post-intervention improvement in cognitive function (t = 4.707, p < 0.001), memory (t = -2.282, p = 0.007), executive function (t = 4.610, p < 0.001), and depression (t = -3.307, p = 0.004). TCT participants had greater post-intervention improvement in memory (t = -6.671, p < 0.001) and executive function (t = 5.393, p < 0.001).
Conclusions: A 6-week robot-assisted, multi-domain cognitive training program can improve the efficiency of global cognitive function and depression during cognitive tasks in older adults with MCI, which is associated with improvements in memory and executive function.
Keywords: cognition; depression; humanoid robots; mild cognitive impairment (MCI); randomized controlled trial.