Negative Air Ions (NAIs) as cognitive rehabilitation therapy for cerebral palsy patients

Abstract

Background: Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a neurological disorder that affects motor movement but can impair cognitive skills, muscle coordination, and many other functions. An environment rich in negative air ions (NAIs) is beneficial for improving alertness, anti-depressant effects, memory, productivity, psychological health, and well-being by inducing alkalinity in the body. Despite several findings, there are no evidence-based studies considering the use of NAIs for the rehabilitation of CP-inflicted patients.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of NAIs on the cognitive functions of CP-inflicted patients.

Methodology: This study was conducted from February 2021 to April 2021 at Al-Umeed Rehabilitation Association (AURA), Karachi, Pakistan after obtaining ethical approval. CP-inflicted participants who voluntarily participated in the study were randomly allocated to the control and intervention groups. Both groups continued their regular therapies, but the intervention group also received thirty-one structured sessions of a 40-minute exposure to 10000 NAIs/cm³ for 6 weeks. Five Lumosity games were selected to assess cognitive performance using paired t-tests.

Results: NAIs significantly improved information processing (p<0.001), selective attention (p<0.01), spatial fluency (p<0.01), and spatial reasoning (p<0.01). This improvement in cognitive functions may be due to enhanced activity of the brain regions likely the cerebral cortex, prefrontal cortex, and parietal lobe as well as the neurotransmitter serotonin.

Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that NAIs can augment the cognitive functions of CP-inflicted patients. NAIs can benefit as a progressive, non-pharmacological, economical, and effective cognitive rehabilitation therapy for CP-inflicted patients after going through second and third-phase clinical trials.