Virtual reality training may
improve the motor skills in damaged limbs, a new Tel Aviv University research
suggests. Patients suffering from hemiparesis — the weakness or paralysis of
one of two paired limbs — undergo physical therapy, but this therapy is
challenging, exhausting, and usually has a fairly limited effect. Results
suggest that training with a healthy hand through a virtual reality
intervention provides a promising way to repair mobility and motor skills in an
impaired limb. According to the research statement, 53 healthy participants
completed baseline tests to assess the motor skills of their hands. The
participants then strapped on virtual reality headsets that showed simulated
versions of their hands.
The virtual reality technology,
presented the participants with a 'mirror image' of their hands, so when they
moved their real right hand, their virtual left hand would move too. In the first
experiment, participants completed a series of finger movements with their
right hands, while the screen showed their virtual left hands moving instead. In
the next, participants placed motorized gloves on their left hands, which moved
their fingers to match the motions of their right hands. Again, the headsets
presented the virtual left hands moving instead of their right hands. Improvements
occurred when the virtual reality screen showed the left hand moving while in
reality the motorized glove moved the hand.
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