Analysis of cerebral prefrontal cortex activation via cranial nerve stimulation and development into cognitive function rehabilitation

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26671027
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Gerontological nursing
• Research Institution: Fukuoka College of Health Sciences
• Principal Investigator: Okura Yoshifumi 福岡医療短期大学, 保健福祉学科, 教授 (80352293)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 力丸 哲也 福岡医療短期大学, 歯科衛生学科, 教授 (10299589)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): YAMAKAWA Takeshi 一般財団法人ファジィシステム研究所, 研究部, 所長 (00005547) ; AOU Shuji 九州工業大学, 生命体工学研究科(研究院), 教授 (40150908) ; HORIO Keiichi 九州工業大学, 生命体工学研究科(研究院), 教授 (70363413)
• Research Collaborator: IMAMURAYA Ritsuko 福岡大学, スポーツ科学部, 准教授 (90289554)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 認知機能 / 学習効率 / 大脳前頭前野 / 脳内変化 / 近赤外線分光法

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Dementia including Alzheimer's disease is a pathological condition that seriously deteriorates the quality of life (QOL) of the elderly persons. In this research, using measurement technique of the Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) that can visualize the changes in the cerebral prefrontal cortex activity related to cognitive and learning functions, we found that learning efficiency of Stroop test, that is one of the evaluation test for execution function and selective attention function, has been improved by the cranial nerve stimulation, such as intra-oral cold stimulation via the trigeminal nerve (cranial nerve V) or mint-related olfactory and/or taste stimulus via the facial nerve (cranial nerve I and VII), accompanied by the activation of the prefrontal cortex area. Furthermore, we have proceeded with the investigation on the improvement of cognitive function in the elderly persons, following incorporation of the cranial nerve stimulation tasks into the oral care program.

Free Research Field

医歯薬学