Mild Cognitive Impairment is successfully treated by neurofeedback
submitted by Maria Di Donato DEd, BCN, PA Licensed Psychologist, PA/NJ Certified School Psychologist
Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) affects adults over 50 and more frequently with advancing years. It is recognized as a feature of the aging process. Many different interventions have been tried to prevent or slow the progression of MCI. Statistics indicate that 10 – 25 percent of the MCI individuals advance to dementia. Even without advancing to dementia, the debilitating effects of MCI are bothersome to the individuals.
The increase in slow wave activity is responsible for many cognitive changes associated with MCI. In fact, the increase in slow wave activity is an excellent predictor of MCI from 7-10 years before it is clinically apparent.
The excess slow waves are responsible for decline in working memory, long-term memory, dual tasking, switching tasks, reasoning ability, and executive and attentional control. Routine daily tasks can be significantly impaired with increased difficulty for problem solving, reasoning and judgment.
Research is robust for the successful treatment using neurofeedback in preventing and reversing the slowing effect of aging. An increase in slow wave activity is linked to decreased cognitive status during aging. This makes neurofeedback, using a system of rewards for producing more desirable faster waves, a safe and effective method for reducing MCI.
Neurofeedback is a form of biofeedback that trains brainwaves and aims to modify brain wave activity through a system of rewards which is a form of operant conditioning.
Follow up studies of individuals receiving treatment conducted after one year showed the improvements persisted.
Neurofeedback training results in the brain continuing to produce the desirable waves even after the training is complete, producing excellent long-term treatment effect and a better quality of life. Neurofeedback has been an effective tool for decades in safely remediating many emotional, behavioral and cognitive problems. Research continues to add additional applications through ongoing research, as is evidenced by the recent research in MCI.
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