Mobile Technology for Cognitive Training and Evaluation of People with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Abstract

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) affects an increasing number of the elderly. MCI is in many cases the first sign of dementia, which is one of the main reasons for disability in the elderly worldwide. In people with MCI, it is essential to regularly evaluate their cognitive status due to the uncertain course of symptoms, that is not completely achieved with traditional assessment procedures. Technological advances, especially in mobile and portable devices, have made possible the delivery of new forms of cognitive training and new methods for cognitive evaluation of healthy older adults or of individuals with MCI. Easy to use and engaging applications can serve as a new means of providing enjoyable cognitive interventions that offer the required commitment of their users. The ability of long-term, remote and autonomous monitoring of the cognitive course of individuals in combination with new technological measures, new specialized algorithms and built-in sensors in their mobile devices offer new data streams to clinicians and the possibility of timely and personalized intervention. This review presents existing cognitive interventions and evaluation studies in adults with or without cognitive impairment, that utilized mobile devices in this context. Their encouraging results provide the breeding ground for the proposal of developing new interventions on future research, that will take advantage of the potentials and prospects of mobile digital devices technology.