Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Estado de México, México.
Department of Pediatrics. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2022;85(4):1767-1781. doi: 10.3233/JAD-215538.
In healthy older adults, excess theta activity is an electroencephalographic (EEG) predictor of cognitive impairment. In a previous study, neurofeedback (NFB) treatment reinforcing reductions theta activity resulted in EEG reorganization and cognitive improvement.
To explore the clinical applicability of this NFB treatment, the present study performed a 1-year follow-up to determine its lasting effects.
Twenty seniors with excessive theta activity in their EEG were randomly assigned to the experimental or control group. The experimental group received an auditory reward when the theta absolute power (AP) was reduced. The control group received the reward randomly.
Both groups showed a significant decrease in theta activity at the training electrode. However, the EEG results showed that only the experimental group underwent global changes after treatment. These changes consisted of delta and theta decreases and beta increases. Although no changes were found in any group during the period between the posttreatment evaluation and follow-up, more pronounced theta decreases and beta increases were observed in the experimental group when the follow-up and pretreatment measures were compared. Executive functions showed a tendency to improve two months after treatment which became significant one year later.
These results suggest that the EEG and behavioral benefits of this NFB treatment persist for at least one year, which adds up to the available evidence contributing to identifying factors that increase its efficacy level. The relevance of this study lies in its prophylactic features of addressing a clinically healthy population with EEG risk of cognitive decline.
在健康的老年人中，过多的θ波活动是脑电图（EEG）预测认知障碍的一个指标。在之前的研究中，神经反馈（NFB）治疗通过强化减少θ波活动，导致脑电图重组和认知改善。
探索这种 NFB 治疗的临床适用性，本研究进行了为期 1 年的随访，以确定其持久效果。
20 名脑电图中θ波活动过多的老年人被随机分配到实验组或对照组。实验组在θ绝对功率（AP）降低时会得到听觉奖励。对照组则随机获得奖励。
两组在训练电极上均显示θ波活动显著减少。然而，脑电图结果表明，只有实验组在治疗后经历了全局变化。这些变化包括δ波和θ波减少，β波增加。尽管在治疗后评估和随访之间的时间段内，任何组都没有发现变化，但与随访和预处理措施相比，实验组观察到更明显的θ波减少和β波增加。在治疗后两个月，执行功能有改善的趋势，一年后变得显著。
这些结果表明，这种 NFB 治疗的脑电图和行为效益至少持续一年，这增加了识别增加其疗效水平的因素的现有证据。这项研究的相关性在于其针对具有认知能力下降脑电图风险的临床健康人群的预防性特征。
