Izaskun Álvarez -Aguado, PhD | Universidad de Las Américas; Maryam Farhang, PhD; Miguel Roselló-Peñaloza, PhD
Competition Sponsor: Chile Agencia Nacional de Investigacion y Desarrollo
Awardee Year: 2023
This proposal seeks to validate a new multi-method approach that acts on both neural-cognitive and behavioral-cognitive levels for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) in older adults using Virtual Reality (VR) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). The integration of VR and TMS has high-impact potential in cognitive rehabilitation because it combines neuropsychological and cognitive-behavioral techniques that facilitate more sensitive rehabilitation of cognitive symptoms while modulating impaired neural circuitry to provide a stronger beneficial effect. Recently, the efficacy of the joint application of VR and TMS for motor rehabilitation has been demonstrated. This has opened the possibility of analyzing the potential of this integrated method for cognitive rehabilitation, which, to our knowledge, has not been investigated. The crucial aspect for advancing in the development of this proposal is to achieve improvements in general cognitive, memory, visuospatial and particularly executive functioning, as well as in basic and instrumental activities of daily living for the elderly affected by MCI.