Background: Recent studies of photobiomodulation (PBM) in patients with cognitive or psychological disorders (including traumatic brain injury, stroke, and dementia) have yielded some encouraging results. Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of a single stimulation on memory in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: After PBM, hemodynamic changes, as a measure of functional brain activity, were evaluated using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Eighteen subjects who met the criteria of MCI were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. A single real or sham PBM session was administered to the forehead of each patient in the experimental and control groups, respectively. All subjects performed a visual memory span test before and after the stimulation, and their hemodynamic responses during the tasks were measured using fNIRS. Results: The results showed that among the MCI subjects, only those who received PBM, but not those who received the sham stimulation, demonstrated significant improvement in the visual memory performance and a reduction in the hemodynamic response during the tasks. Conclusion: These findings suggest that PBM may reduce the cognitive efforts needed to complete tasks that require high memory loads, and thus improve the cognitive performance of individuals with MCI.

While it has been argued that children with autism spectrum disorders are responsive to robot-like toys, very little research has examined the impact of robot-based intervention on gesture use. These children have delayed gestural development. We used a social robot in two phases to teach them to recognize and produce eight pantomime gestures that expressed feelings and needs. Compared to the children in the wait-list control group (N = 6), those in the intervention group (N = 7) were more likely to recognize gestures and to gesture accurately in trained and untrained scenarios. They also generalized the acquired recognition (but not production) skills to human-to-human interaction. The benefits and limitations of robot-based intervention for gestural learning were highlighted. Implications for Rehabilitation Compared to typically-developing children, children with autism spectrum disorders have delayed development of gesture comprehension and production. Robot-based intervention program was developed to teach children with autism spectrum disorders recognition (Phase I) and production (Phase II) of eight pantomime gestures that expressed feelings and needs. Children in the intervention group (but not in the wait-list control group) were able to recognize more gestures in both trained and untrained scenarios and generalize the acquired gestural recognition skills to human-to-human interaction. Similar findings were reported for gestural production except that there was no strong evidence showing children in the intervention group could produce gestures accurately in human-to-human interaction.

The dementia population is increasing as the world’s population is growing older. The current systematic review aims to identify digital cognitive biomarkers from computerized tests for detecting dementia and its risk state of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and to evaluate the diagnostic performance of digital cognitive biomarkers. A literature search was performed in three databases, and supplemented by a Google search for names of previously identified computerized tests. Computerized tests were categorized into five types, including memory tests, test batteries, other single/multiple cognitive tests, handwriting/drawing tests, and daily living tasks and serious games. Results showed that 78 studies were eligible. Around 90% of the included studies were rated as high quality based on the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS). Most of the digital cognitive biomarkers achieved comparable or even better diagnostic performance than traditional paper-and-pencil tests. Moderate to large group differences were consistently observed in cognitive outcomes related to memory and executive functions, as well as some novel outcomes measured by handwriting/drawing tests, daily living tasks, and serious games. These outcomes have the potential to be sensitive digital cognitive biomarkers for MCI and dementia. Therefore, digital cognitive biomarkers can be a sensitive and promising clinical tool for detecting MCI and dementia.

No abstract

A positive effect of photoneuromodulation (PNM) has been found on cognitive and emotional functions in healthy populations. However, the hemodynamic changes associated with improved cognitive functions (i.e., memory and executive functions) are unexplored. Therefore, the present study investigated the hemodynamic changes associated with PNM using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). In this experiment, 33 young healthy adults were recruited and randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. A single PNM stimulation was applied to the forehead in the experimental group, while a sham stimulation (same procedure without machine activation) was performed for the control group. Before and after the stimulation, all participants performed an n-back task with 0-and 3-back conditions to assess their working memory function, and their hemodynamic responses during the tasks were measured by fNIRS. A significant group (experimental vs. control) × time (before vs. after PNM) interaction in memory-related frontal activation was found. Specifically, only the experimental group had a significant reduction in frontal hemodynamic levels during the difficult task. Additionally, the memory-related frontal activation was significantly correlated with the immediate and delayed recall of the Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure Test assessed at baseline. Therefore, PNM may reduce the cognitive efforts needed to complete tasks with high memory loads.

Objective Temporal processing deficits were found among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The present study aims to develop an online temporal processing assessment that can be conducted remotely, and the sensitivity of the test was assessed on a group of children with ADHD. Methods A total of 188 children were recruited, including 94 typically developing (TD) children, and 94 children with ADHD. The online assessment consists of two temporal-order judgment (TOJ) tasks. One task used tone pairs presented with two interstimulus intervals (ISIs) (305ms and 40ms). Another task used pairs of consonant-vowel (CV) syllables with 20 varying ISI levels. Participants were asked to determine the sequence of the sound pairs. Results The results showed that ADHD children were less accurate (ISI 305ms: M = 83.90%; ISI 40ms: M = 66.28%) than TD children (ISI 305ms: M = 89.36%; ISI 40ms: M = 77.16%) in the tone task. Similarly, ADHD children showed a higher ISI passing threshold ( M = 283.64ms) than TD children ( M = 199.76ms) and higher accuracy in the CV task. Hierarchical binary logistic regression suggested a model to predict ADHD children using accuracy in ISI 40ms in the tone task and ISI passing threshold in the CV task. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis yielded a sensitivity of 75.58% and a specificity of 51.11%. Conclusion ADHD children showed temporal processing deficits of both tones and CVs. The online assessment may be a valid tool for differentiating ADHD children from TD children.

Children who experience difficulty in learning at mainstream schools usually are provided with remediation classes after school to facilitate their learning. The present study aims to evaluate an innovative eye-tracking training as possible alternative remediation. Our previous findings showed that children who received eye-tracking training demonstrated improved attention and inhibitory control, and the present randomized controlled study aims to evaluate if eye-tracking training can also enhance the learning and memory of children. Fifty-three primary school students with learning difficulty (including autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, specific learning disorder, specific language impairment and borderline intellectual functioning) were recruited and randomly assigned to either the Eye-tracking Training group or the after-school remediation class. They were assessed on their learning and memory using the Hong Kong List Learning Test before and after 8-month training. Twenty weekly parallel sessions of training, 50 min per session, were provided to each group. Children who received the eye-tracking training, not those in the control group, showed a significant improvement in memory as measured by the delayed recall. In addition, the Eye-Tracking Training group showed significantly faster learning than the control group. Also, the two groups showed a significant improvement in their reading abilities. In sum, eye-tracking training may be effective training for enhancing the learning and memory of children with learning difficulties.

Objective: To examine the effect of photobiomodulation (PBM) on cognitive performance in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).Background: While some positive effects of PBM stimulation to improve cognitive function in patients with traumatic brain injury and dementia has been reported, the PBM effects on amnestic mild cognitive impairment are relatively unexplored. Materials and methods: Three patients (mean age = 62) received 18-sessions of PBM stimulation twice per week for nine weeks. Each patient was assessed with Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (Rey-O testing visual memory) and Hong Kong List Learning Test (HKLLT testing verbal memory), Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR), Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ), Geriatric Anxiety Scale-10 Item Version (GAS-10) and Chinese Geriatric Depression Scale (CGDS) before and after PBM.Results: All subjects demonstrated memory impairment at baseline, which was improved within the normal range after the intervention. One subject's verbal memory improved from 1 st percentile (moderately impaired) to 67 th percentile (average), another patient improved from 4 th percentile to 26 th percentile, and the third from 11 th percentile to 54 th percentile.Conclusions: PBM treatment may be a promising noninvasive intervention for patients with MCI or other memory disorder types.