The Grounded Brain: How Sleeping Grounded Affects Memory and Perceptions

Inclusion Criteria: * All approved participants must 1. Be at least 55 years of age; all genders and ethnicities; 2. Have English as their primary language or be able to speak, read, and write English fluently; As this is a vulnerable population, this investigator must be able to evaluate understanding and cannot reliably do that with someone who is not fluent in English; 3. Have a current diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease made by a medical doctor; 4. Be able to spend at least 6 hours per 24-hour period sleeping or resting on the grounded mat; 5. Be able to legally consent to participating in this study; 6. Agree to allow the researcher to come into their home to setup the equipment and administer the tests; 7. Be able to see well enough to use a laptop to complete electronic testing; 8. Be alert and oriented X 4 based on initial verbal screening and in-person visits; 9. Reside in or around the Greater Austin, Texas, area/Central Texas area; 10. Sleep in a dwelling that is grounded. Exclusion Criteria: * All approved participants must 1. Not have a diagnosis or conversion to AD or any other type of memory disorder before or during the study period including but not limited to dementia, Lewy body disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, vascular cognitive impairment, frontotemporal dementias, primary progressive aphasia, autoimmune encephalopathy, and normal pressure hydrocephalus; 2. Not have a diagnosis of stable MCI; 3. Not have any prior diagnosis of traumatic brain injury; 4. Not have any history of grounding consistently for more than 60 minutes/day in the past year. This includes natural methods and the use of any grounding devices; 5. Not have any in-the-moment assessment that leads the investigator to believe that the participant is not fully aware or does not understand what is being asked of them. Again, this is a vulnerable population, and I will exclude or cut any participant who shows signs of confusion; 6. Not be taking or have taken in the previous 30 days any of the following medications: 1. daily anti-inflammatories, prescription or over the counter; 2. blood pressure medications (anti-hypertensives); 3. blood thinners (anti-coagulants); e. glucose control medications; f. thyroid medications; g. anti-convulsive medications (no matter the diagnosis); h. any type of monoclonal antibody; i. any type of immunosuppressive, including steroids; j. any type of immunomodulator. 7…