Abstract
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) refers to a subtle, general cognitive decline with a detrimental impact on elderlies' independent living and quality of life. Without a timely diagnosis, this condition can evolve into dementia over time, hence the crucial need for early detection, prevention, and rehabilitation. For this purpose, current neuropsychological interventions have been integrated with (i) virtual reality, which immerses the user in a controlled, ecological, and safe environment (so far, both virtual reality-based cognitive and motor rehabilitation have revealed promising positive outcomes); and (ii) non-invasive brain stimulation, i.e., transcranial magnetic or electric brain stimulation, which has emerged as a promising cognitive treatment for MCI and Alzheimer's dementia. To date, these two methods have been employed separately; only a few studies (limited to motor rehabilitation) have suggested their integration. The present paper suggests to extend this integration to cognitive rehabilitation as well as to provide a multimodal stimulation that could enhance cognitive training, resulting in a more efficient rehabilitation.
Highlights
Cognitive decline is a physiological change occurring during the aging process that occasionally evolves into a subtle condition known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) [1]
Since activity restriction underlies the expression of cognitive impairment in daily life, IADLs might enable the detection of early deficits experienced during daily activities beyond those captured by neuropsychological tests [8]
Depending on the degree of immersiveness, virtual reality (VR) devices can fall into three categories: non-immersive; semi-immersive; and fully-immersive [e.g., user wears a head-mounted display (HMD) that involves the entire vision or is immersed in the cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE), a fourwalled virtual environment that provides a stronger sense of presence)
Summary
Cognitive decline is a physiological change occurring during the aging process that occasionally evolves into a subtle condition known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) [1]. MCI is likely to either revert back to normal cognition or stabilize over time [2]. Both MCI patients and their caregivers frequently report concerns about worsening cognition in areas such as everyday memory, language, visuospatial skills, planning, organization, and divided attention [3]. The decline in cognitive functioning negatively affects elderlies’ independent living and their ability to safely and autonomously carry out instrumental activities of daily life (IADLs), an assessment instrument that measures an individual’s ability to perform daily activities [4] such as grocery shopping, managing medications and/or money, and housework. Since activity restriction underlies the expression of cognitive impairment in daily life, IADLs might enable the detection of early deficits experienced during daily activities beyond those captured by neuropsychological tests [8]
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