Investigation of Upper Limb Training Device Integrating Cognitive and Motor Functions Application

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is considered a transitional state between normal aging and dementia, often progressing to Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Understanding the characteristics of brain function in MCI patients and intervening early is crucial for dementia prevention and treatment. Utilizing robotic technology for rehabilitation training is an important approach in rehabilitation therapy. We designed a combined cognitive and motor function upper limb rehabilitation training paradigm for MCI patients. The cognitive task (SC) involves numerical cognition, while the motor task (MT) consists of active upper limb training. Motion data during dual-task (DT) periods were collected from patients, and functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) technology was utilized to assess cerebral cortical hemodynamic responses. The aim of this study is to explore the changes in motion data and cerebral cortical hemodynamic responses of MCI patients during rehabilitation training with the Upper Limb Training Device (ULTD), and to evaluate the effectiveness of this paradigm for the rehabilitation training of MCI patients. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the neural processes involved in robot-assisted parallel interactive tasks, providing insights for more effective robot-assisted rehabilitation therapy.