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In Older Adults (OAs), Electroencephalogram (EEG) slowing in frontal lobes and a diminished muscle atonia during Rapid Eye Movement sleep (REM) have each been effective tracers of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), but this relationship remains to be explored by non-linear analysis. Likewise, data provided by EEG, EMG (Electromyogram) and EOG (Electrooculogram)—the three required sleep indicators—during the transition from REM to Non-REM (NREM) sleep have not been related jointly to MCI. Therefore, the main aim of the study was to explore, with results for Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA) and multichannel DFA (mDFA), the Color of Noise (CN) at the NREM to REM transition in OAs with MCI vs. subjects with good performances. The comparisons for the transition from NREM to REM were made for each group at each cerebral area, taking bilateral derivations to evaluate interhemispheric coupling and anteroposterior and posterior networks. In addition, stationarity analysis was carried out to explore if the three markers distinguished between the groups. Neuropsi and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were administered, as well as other geriatric tests. One night polysomnography was applied to 6 OAs with MCI (68.1 ± 3) and to 7 subjects without it (CTRL) (64.5 ± 9), and pre-REM and REM epochs were analyzed for each subject. Lower scores for attention, memory and executive funcions and a greater index of arousals during sleep were found for the MCI group. Results confirmed that EOGs constituted significant markers of MCI, increasing the CN for the MCI group in REM sleep. The CN of the EEG from the pre-REM to REM was higher for the MCI group vs. the opposite for the CTRL group at frontotemporal areas. Frontopolar interhemispheric scaling values also followed this trend as well as right anteroposterior networks. EMG Hurst values for both groups were lower than those for EEG and EOG. Stationarity analyses showed differences between stages in frontal areas and right and left EOGs for both groups. These results may demonstrate the breakdown of fractality of areas especially involved in executive functioning and the way weak stationarity analyses may help to distinguish between sleep stages in OAs.

The increasing human longevity around the world calls for new attention models in which the primary caregiver plays a crucial role as a source of care supply. However, primary caregivers’ lack of training, along with high levels of stress, depression and anxiety, can have a negative impact on both the caregiver’s health and the development of caregiving duties. Hence, the objective of the present article is to introduce the eCuidador platform, an innovative tool that seeks to provide assistance and support to primary caregivers by means of a variety of services available in the cloud with the aim of improving caregivers’ health and quality of life. Likewise, we present the results obtained from the pilot test validation, in which the evaluation of the following parameters was carried out: Usability (12), Functionality (10), Design (11), Usefulness (12) and Satisfaction (12). The participants of this pilot test were 12 primary caregivers (91.66% women).

Background: Cognitive impairment is considered one of the most feared chronic conditions among the older adult population since its incidence is approximately twice more frequent than that of dementia. In Mexico, no studies or reports of older adults using technology for cognitive interventions have been published, given that institutions usually frame cognitive stimulation tasks in paper and pencil (ie, in the traditional manner). Objective: The objective of this study was to create and analyze the effect, viability, and impact of a mobile app for cognitive stimulation implemented among a group of elderly adults (over 60 years of age) from the state of Hidalgo in Mexico. Methods: This study was a nonprobabilistic pilot trial using convenience sampling. An intervention was implemented among a group of 22 older adults between 60 and 80 years of age over 12 weeks. Half of the older adults were stimulated with the mobile app (experimental group) and the other half followed the traditional paper and pencil training (control group). Assessments with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Neuropsi, a neuropsychological test validated in Mexico, were done before and after both cognitive stimulations. Results: According to the analyzed data, 6/11 (55%) participants from the experimental group obtained better results in their cognitive skills, and 5 (45%) of the adults maintained their score, given that the participants were able to execute the exercises repetitively. Meanwhile, for the control group, only 3/11 (27%) participants obtained better results in the postevaluation. Significant values for results of the MMSE were obtained in the postevaluation for the experimental group compared to the control group, while results did not show significant differences in the Neuropsi. Regarding the validation of the app, all the participants evaluated its pertinence positively. Conclusions: The intervention data show that the experimental group obtained better results in the postevaluation given that the participants were able to execute the exercises repetitively. The control group could not accomplish this since they had to respond on the manual and no further attempts were provided. However, both groups increased their score in the neuropsychological evaluations. This suggests that a longer and more frequent intervention is required. Registered Report Identifier: RR1-10.2196/9603

Background: The interest in applying information and communications technology (ICT) in older adult health care is frequently promoted by the increasing and unsustainable costs of health care services. In turn, the unprecedented growth of the elderly population around the globe has urged institutions, companies, industries, and governments to respond to older adults’ medical needs. Objective: The aim of this review is to systematically identify the opportunities that ICT offers to health services, specifically for patients with dementia and their families. Methods: A systematic review of the literature about ICT applications that have been developed to assist patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and their primary caregivers was conducted. The bibliographic search included works published between January 2005 and July 2015 in the databases Springer Link, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Of the published papers, 902 were obtained in the initial search, of which 214 were potentially relevant. Included studies fulfilled the following inclusion criteria: (1) studies carried out between the years of 2005 and 2015, (2) studies were published in English or Spanish, (3) studies with titles containing the keywords, (4) studies with abstracts containing information on ICT applications and AD, and (5) studies published in indexed journals, proceedings, and book chapters. Results: A total of 26 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria for the current review. Among them, 16 were aimed at the patient with AD and 10 at the primary caregivers and/or family members. The studies targeted applications that included assistive technology (44%, 7/16), telecare (37%, 6/16), and telemedicine (31%, 5/16). The information systems (56%, 9/16) and Internet (44%, 7/16) were the most commonly used enabling technologies for the studies. Finally, areas of attention more covered by the studies were care (56%, 9/16), treatment (56%, 9/16), and management (50%, 8/16). Furthermore, it was found that 20 studies (77%, 8/26) evaluated their ICT applications through carrying out tests with patients with dementia and caregivers. Conclusions: The key finding of this systematic review revealed that the use of ICT tools can be strongly recommended to be used as a lifestyle in the elderly in order to improve the quality of life for the elderly and their primary caregivers. Since patients with AD are completely dependent in most activities, it is necessary to give attention to their primary caregivers to avoid stress and depression. In addition, the use of ICT in the daily life of caregivers can help them understand the disease process and manage situations in a way that is beneficial for both parties. It is expected that future developments concerning technological projects can support this group of people. [JMIR Rehabil Assist Technol 2016;3(1):e6]

Given that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is involved in executive functions and is deactivated and decoupled from posterior associative regions during REM sleep, that Gamma temporal coupling involved in information processing is enhanced during REM sleep, and that adult humans spend about 90 min of every 24h in REM sleep, it might be expected that REM sleep deprivation would modify Gamma temporal coupling and have a deteriorating effect on executive functions. We analyzed EEG Gamma activity and temporal coupling during implementation of a rule-guided task before and after REM sleep deprivation and its effect on verbal fluency, flexible thinking and selective attention. After two nights in the laboratory for adaptation, on the third night subjects (n=18) were randomly assigned to either selective REM sleep deprivation effectuated by awakening them at each REM sleep onset or, the same number of NREM sleep awakenings as a control for unspecific effects of sleep interruptions. Implementation of abstract rules to guide behavior required greater activation and synchronization of Gamma activity in the frontopolar regions after REM sleep reduction from 20.6% at baseline to just 3.93% of total sleep time. However, contrary to our hypothesis, both groups showed an overall improvement in executive task performance and no effect on their capacity to sustain selective attention. These results suggest that after one night of selective REM sleep deprivation executive functions can be compensated by increasing frontal activation and they still require the participation of supervisory control by frontopolar regions.

Converging evidence from animal and human studies suggest that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep modulates emotional processing. The aim of the present study was to explore the effects of selective REM sleep deprivation (REM-D) on emotional responses to threatening visual stimuli and their brain correlates using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty healthy subjects were randomly assigned to two groups: selective REM-D, by awakening them at each REM sleep onset, or non-rapid eye movement sleep interruptions (NREM-I) as control for potential non-specific effects of awakenings and lack of sleep. In a within-subject design, a visual emotional reactivity task was performed in the scanner before and 24 h after sleep manipulation. Behaviorally, emotional reactivity was enhanced relative to baseline (BL) in the REM deprived group only. In terms of fMRI signal, there was, as expected, an overall decrease in activity in the NREM-I group when subjects performed the task the second time, particularly in regions involved in emotional processing, such as occipital and temporal areas, as well as in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, involved in top-down emotion regulation. In contrast, activity in these areas remained the same level or even increased in the REM-D group, compared to their BL level. Taken together, these results suggest that lack of REM sleep in humans is associated with enhanced emotional reactivity, both at behavioral and neural levels, and thus highlight the specific role of REM sleep in regulating the neural substrates for emotional responsiveness.