Changes of cognitive brain functions in the elderly by Kneipp therapy

Introduction: Pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatment of brain syn drome is multifarious. Until now, plain external applications of physical s timuli, as used daily in geriatric care, were not explored regarding their influence on cognitive brain function. The aim of this randomized cross-ove r study was to examine the influence of dermatoreceptive stimuli on cogniti ve brain function of healty geriatric volunteers. Methods: 24 healthy volun teers (23 women, 1 man) were randomized into 2 groups (cross-over design). Group A (mean age +/- SD: 68.8 +/- 6.2 years) was treated according to the following regime: at first a 10-12 degreesC cold stimulus for 10 s (a so-ca lled Kneipp face shower) and afterwards a cold wet pack of 10-12 degreesC a t the neck for 1 min. Group B (age 69.8 +/- 5.3 years) was subjected to an identical procedure but with warm thermoindifferent temperatures of 34-36 d egreesC. After 1 week the two groups were interchanged. The parameters of i nterest were the critical flicker frequency (CFF) and the latencies of the event-related P300 potentials of the visually evoked potentials (VEP), whic h can be considered the electroencephalographic substrate of the cognitive functional ability. The CFFs and the P300 latencies and amplitudes were mea sured directly before and 10 min after the application of the above-mention ed stimuli. Furthermore, the CFFs were recorded a second and third time 30 and 60 min later. Results: Following application of cold-water stimuli, the CFF increased from (mean +/- SE) 32.55 +/- 0.44 s(-1) to 33.06 +/- 0.44 s( -1) (p = 0.003) 10 min after the stimulus. 30 min later the CFF was still e levated at 32.95 +/- 0.47 s(-1) (p = 0.043). The P300 latencies decreased b y 4.8% (p < 0.001) after cold-water application from 266.5 +/- 5.28 to 253. 7 +/- 4.22 ms. After warm stimuli they increased from 258.69 +/- 3.71 to 26 6.17 +/- 5.03 ms (p = 0.01). The P300 amplitudes were elevated by 5% only w ith the cold stimuli (p = 0.004). Conclusion: Cold water applied locally to face and neck region is able to provoke significant improvements of cognit ive abilities.