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Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias
Volume 17 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2025.1514127
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancing Early Alzheimer's Detection Through Multimodal Neuroimaging Techniques View all 4 articles
TaiChi-MSS Protocol: Enhancing Cognitive and Brain Function in MCI Patients through Tai Chi Exercise Combined with Multisensory Stimulation
Provisionally accepted- 1 Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
- 2 Soochow University, Shilin District, Taipei County, Taiwan
The aging population in China is confronted with considerable challenges, with 14.71% of elderly individuals affected by mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The practice of Tai Chi has been demonstrated to enhance cognitive function, while sensory stimulation has been shown to facilitate neural activity. Nevertheless, the combined impact of Tai Chi and sensory stimulation on cognitive, sensory functions, and brain activation in older adults with MCI remains uncertain. This study aims to ascertain whether the integration of Tai Chi with sensory stimulation can facilitate more efficacious interventions for these outcomes.: The TaiChi-MSS (Tai Chi and Multisensory Stimulation for Cognitive Function) study is a multi-center, randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted in Suzhou and Shanghai, enrolling 88 participants aged 60 years or older with MCI. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of four groups: Tai Chi, multisensory stimulation, Tai Chi combined with multisensory stimulation or control. The intervention will last 6 months, with follow-up assessments at 3, 6, and 9 months. Primary outcomes include cognitive and sensory assessments, assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE), domain-specific cognitive tests, Pure Tone Audiometry (PTA), and Sniffin' Sticks Odor Identification Test. Secondary outcomes involve brain activation, measured throughfunctional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans. fMRI will be used to assess brain structure and connectivity changes, focusing on neuroplasticity. Data will be analyzed using mixed-effects models. The False Discovery Rate (FDR) will be the correction method for multiple comparisons to control for the expected proportion of false positives.This study was approved by the ethics committee of Shanghai University of Sport (No. 102772023RT200). The results of this study will be -2 -disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and presented at academic conferences.
Keywords: mild cognitive impairment (MCI), sensory function, Mini-mental state examination, Clinical Dementia Rating, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, brain activation, Domain-specific cognitive function
Received: 20 Oct 2024; Accepted: 11 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhou, Yang, Wang, Zhu and Zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Dong Zhu, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
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