How technology might reduce risk factors of dementia and similar neurological afflictions in people aged 50 and above

WHAT IS DEMENTIA?

Despite common misconception, dementia is not a disease, but rather a group of symptoms . These begin as symptoms of mild cognitive impairment, which is a general term for a group of problems that make carrying out daily tasks difficult and are a common occurrence in a variety of illnesses.

Symptoms include short term memory loss, impaired thinking, inability to make decisions, confusion, and difficulty concentrating. In dementia, these symptoms become worse and more prominent in someone’s life.

Although dementia can affect young people, the probability of developing these symptoms increases the older you are, with those over the age of 65 being affected the most. Another common misconception about dementia is that it is a part of normal ageing; it is caused by damage to the brain through a variety of illnesses and it does not happen naturally.

CURRENT TREATMENTS

Currently, there is no cure for dementia, however, treatments are available to slow the progression of symptoms. Although there are medicines that act on the brain, many drug-free treatments are available that show promise.

One of these is encompassed by the term ‘cognitive stimulation therapy’ (CST), which encourages the use of the brain for memory and thinking tasks. The idea behind this therapy is that increased use of the brain for problem-solving may help to slow down the brain’s deterioration.

Exercise is currently being suggested as a major non-intrusive treatment of mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Resistance exercise specifically has repeatedly shown to slow cognitive deterioration in patients with mild cognitive impairment and dementia. However, it has often proved difficult for patients to stick to exercise plans. Newly developed exergames incorporate exercise into video games to make the experience more engaging and enjoyable.

HOW CAN VIDEO GAMES HELP WITH DEMENTIA?

Some studies have looked at the effects of computerised cognitive training on cognitive decline in older adults. This type of therapy is non-intrusive and aims to maintain mental processes in older adults to prevent further deterioration. The majority of research has focused on first person shooters or brain-training games, such as puzzles and games designed to tackle cognitive issues.

HOW CAN VIRTUAL REALITY HELP WITH DEMENTIA?

Despite its introduction in the 90s, immersive virtual reality (iVR) has recently had tremendous advancements and become more widely available. Because of this, many investigations on the effect of VR on dementia and mild cognitive impairment have used 2-dimensional VR.

Virtual reality activities that require some form of exercise or movement could improve physical fitness and derive similar benefits to those from exercise therapy. Some studies have already found that iVR was able to improve spatial cognition - the knowledge of how to navigate and remember our spatial surroundings. These are our abilities to know where we are, how to find our way somewhere, recognising locations and objects, among other things, which is a common symptom in many types of dementia.