Pilot Study of the Effects of Bright Ambient Therapy on Dementia Symptoms and Cognitive Function

Abstract

Light therapy potentially improves dementia symptoms. In this study, we examined the effects of bright light therapy on neuropsychiatric behaviors and cognitive function. Thirty-five participants were assigned to either the experimental or comparison group. The experimental group was exposed to bright light at 2,500 lux, and the comparison group was exposed to 114–307 lux. The instruments used were the Neuropsychiatric Inventory and the Mini-Mental State Examination. The experimental group showed a significant improvement in Neuropsychiatric Inventory scores; these scores, which were calculated using generalized estimating equations with medication (benzodiazepines) as a covariate, were reduced by 65% (P < 0.001) and 78% (P = 0.001) by the 5th and 9th weeks, respectively. At the same time, Mini-Mental State Examination scores increased by 19% (P = 0.007) and 28% (P = 0.04), respectively. However, differences in outcomes between the 5th and 9th weeks were not significant. A 4-week regimen of bright light therapy was the most effective, with higher adherence and acceptability.

Phototherapy for Cognitive Function in Patients With Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…All 13 trials included in this metaanalysis were controlled studies, and 10 were randomized controlled trials. Among these, three trials were performed in the United States (Berman Marvin et al, 2017;Chao, 2019;Nizamutdinov et al, 2021), five were performed in Asia (Guo et al, 1998;Huang et al, 2015;Chan et al, 2021;Kim et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2021), four were performed in Europe (Graf et al, 2001;Riemersma-van der Lek et al, 2008;Cremascoli et al, 2022), and one was performed in Egypt (Nagy et al, 2021).…”

“…The mean education level of the elderly participants ranged from 3.8 to 18.3 years. Regarding the etiology of dementia, seven studies only included patients with AD (Graf et al, 2001;Huang et al, 2015;Berman Marvin et al, 2017;Chao, 2019;Kim et al, 2021;Nagy et al, 2021;Cremascoli et al, 2022), one study included only patients with VD (Guo et al, 1998), and the remaining five studies included patients with mixed types of dementia (Riemersma-van der Lek et al, 2008;Chan et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2021;Nizamutdinov et al, 2021). Regarding dementia severity, most studies reported mild to moderate dementia.…”

“…The evaluated phototherapy interventions could be categorized into three subtypes, namely, normal visible light (Graf et al, 2001;Riemersma-van der Lek et al, 2008;Huang et al, 2015;Kim et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2021;Cremascoli et al, 2022), NIR LED PBM (Berman Marvin et al, 2017;Chao, 2019;Chan et al, 2021;Nizamutdinov et al, 2021), and laser (Guo et al, 1998;Nagy et al, 2021). Normal visible light could be further categorized into traditional bright light and blue-enriched light.…”

“…The remaining eight studies (61.5%) exhibited some concerns regarding overall bias. With respect to risk of bias domains, three studies reported a high risk of bias in the randomization process (Guo et al, 1998;Kim et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2021). The majority of the studies exhibited a low risk of bias in the three evaluated domains, namely, missing outcome data, outcome measurement, and selective reporting.…”

Novel Invisible Spectral Flicker Induces 40 Hz Neural Entrainment with Similar Spatial Distribution as 40 Hz Stroboscopic Light

“…The type of ISF used in this study alternates between two spectrally different compositions of light that renders the flickering invisible to the observer while creating a perceived color of white light similar to continuous light. The imperceptible flicker characteristic of the ISF equates it with bright light therapy which is already acknowledged as a treatment with high tolerability for different psychiatric disorders [ 13 ] and dementia [ 14 ]. The ISF at 40 Hz will be compared to 40 Hz stroboscopic light and continuous non-flickering light.…”