Cognitive training based on functional near-infrared spectroscopy neurofeedback for the elderly with mild cognitive impairment: a preliminary study

Ilju Lee; Dohyun Kim; Sehwan Kim; Hee Jung Kim; Un Sun Chung; Jung Jae Lee

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2023.1168815

Cognitive training based on functional near-infrared spectroscopy neurofeedback for the elderly with mild cognitive impairment: a preliminary study

Front Aging Neurosci. 2023 Jul 26:15:1168815. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2023.1168815. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ilju Lee¹, Dohyun Kim^{2

3}, Sehwan Kim⁴, Hee Jung Kim⁵, Un Sun Chung⁶, Jung Jae Lee^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, College of Health Science, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Psychiatry, Dankook University Hospital, Cheonan, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Introduction: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is often described as an intermediate stage of the normal cognitive decline associated with aging and dementia. There is a growing interest in various non-pharmacological interventions for MCI to delay the onset and inhibit the progressive deterioration of daily life functions. Previous studies suggest that cognitive training (CT) contributes to the restoration of working memory and that the brain-computer-interface technique can be applied to elicit a more effective treatment response. However, these techniques have certain limitations. Thus, in this preliminary study, we applied the neurofeedback paradigm during CT to increase the working memory function of patients with MCI.

Methods: Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to provide neurofeedback by measuring the changes in oxygenated hemoglobin in the prefrontal cortex. Thirteen elderly MCI patients who received CT-neurofeedback sessions four times on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) once a week were recruited as participants.

Results: Compared with pre-intervention, the activity of the targeted brain region increased when the participants first engaged in the training; after 4 weeks of training, oxygen saturation was significantly decreased in the left dlPFC. The participants demonstrated significantly improved working memory compared with pre-intervention and decreased activity significantly correlated with improved cognitive performance.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that the applications for evaluating brain-computer interfaces can aid in elucidation of the subjective mental workload that may create additional or decreased task workloads due to CT.

Keywords: cognitive impairment; cognitive training; elderly; functional near-infrared spectroscopy; neurofeedback.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the XR Convergence Content Support Project funded by the Chungnam Information Culture Technology Industry Agency, Republic of Korea; the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. 2020R1G1A1101844); and the NRF grant funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE) (No. NRF-2022R1I1A3073688).