Alpha and theta intensive neurofeedback protocol for age-related cognitive deficits

With the growing life expectancy, the number of elderly people is increasing tremendously worldwide. The progressive decrease of synaptic plasticity and neuronal interconnectivity in the ageing brain, concomitant with alterations in key cognitive abilities such as working memory and attention, may be delayed, stopped or reversed by neurorehabilitation. Hence, current approaches used to modify cognitive capabilities are of utmost importance to contemporary society and often divided into behavioral training procedures and techniques for direct modulation of neural mechanisms. Neurofeedback (NF), which is based on electroencephalogram signals, is used to train individuals on learning how to influence brain function by modulating their own brain rhythms. However, the potential effects of rehabilitation through behavioral training, neuromodulation and even a combined methodology are poorly understood. Differently from the frequently reported longer protocols, an alpha and theta intensive neurofeedback protocol was applied on 14 subjects ageing more than 55. Although the herein presented results suggest that the proposed protocol succeeded to modulate alpha and theta rhythms and led to moderate cognitive improvements, no modulation was apparent on post-training resting state EEG rhythms.