Kodama Ayuto, Suzuki Yasuhiro, Sakuraba Kazuki, Kume Yu, Ota Hidetaka
Advanced Research Center for Geriatric and Gerontology, Akita University, Akita 010-8543, Japan.
Department of Complex Systems Science, Graduate School of Information Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 23;19(7):3803. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19073803.
Background: The purpose of this study was to clarify the effect of Deep Micro Vibrotactile (DMV) stimulation on the cognitive functions in elderly people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia. Methods: A total of 35 participants with dementia from three nursing homes, who had completed treatment with DMV stimulation at 15−40 Hz (hereinafter, 15−40 Hz DMV stimulation) for a month were recruited for this study. The subjects had received continuous 15−40 Hz DMV stimulation for 24 h a day for 1 month. We assessed the effect of the treatment on the cognitive functions (by the word list memory (WM) test, trail making test-part A (TMT-A) and part B (TMT-B), and symbol digit substitution task (SDST)) and physical functions (grip strength (GS) and usual walking speed (UWS)), by comparing the results at the baseline and after the 1-month intervention (DMV stimulation). Results: The results revealed that the performances in the WM test (p < 0.05), TMT-B (p < 0.05), and SDST (p < 0.01) improved significantly after the intervention. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that 15−40 Hz DMV stimulation is might be effective for improving the cognitive functions in elderly people with dementia. Furthermore, our novel findings showed the different effectiveness of the treatment depending on the stage of cognitive impairments.
本研究旨在阐明深度微振动触觉（DMV）刺激对轻度认知障碍或轻度痴呆老年人认知功能的影响。方法：本研究招募了来自三家养老院的35名痴呆症患者，他们已完成15 - 40赫兹（以下简称15 - 40赫兹DMV刺激）的治疗，为期一个月。受试者每天接受24小时的持续15 - 40赫兹DMV刺激，为期1个月。通过比较基线和1个月干预（DMV刺激）后的结果，我们评估了该治疗对认知功能（通过单词列表记忆（WM）测试、连线测验A部分（TMT - A）和B部分（TMT - B）以及符号数字替换任务（SDST））和身体功能（握力（GS）和正常步行速度（UWS））的影响。结果：结果显示，干预后WM测试（p < 0.05）、TMT - B（p < 0.05）和SDST（p < 0.01）的表现显著改善。结论：我们的研究结果表明，15 - 40赫兹DMV刺激可能对改善痴呆老年人的认知功能有效。此外，我们的新发现表明，治疗效果因认知障碍阶段而异。
