Development of 3D visuo-auditory stimulation to promote the elderly brain reorganization.

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26560401
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Applied health science
• Research Institution: International University of Health and Welfare
• Principal Investigator: Goto Yoshinobu 国際医療福祉大学, 福岡保健医療学部, 教授 (30336028)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 脳内ニューロネットワーク / 脳可塑性 / 三次元視聴覚刺激 / 脳磁図 / 脳波 / 機能的MRI / 自律神経活動 / 高齢脳

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this study was to evaluate the 3D-visuo-auditory stimulation to promote the reorganization of the elderly brain functions. In this study, 3D-visuo-auditory movies were presented to the healthy adults and elderly people, aged above 70 years, for 2 hours a day for 2 weeks. The effects of stimulation were checked by the psychophysical and electromagnetic examinations. As a result, before the exercise, cognitive thresholds of all stimuli were significantly increased in the elderly group. However, only the motion recognition threshold was recovered in the elderly group after this 3D-visuo-auditory training. No significant changes were observed in electrophysiological examinations. Therefore, these results suggest that the sensory stimulation may be able to reorganize the elderly brain function.

Free Research Field

臨床神経生理学、リハビリテーション医学