Learning of a postural control task in a virtual environment with Parkinson´s disease individuals

Authors

  • Tatiana B. Freitas Laboratory of Motor Behavior, School of Physical Education and Sport, University of São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil - tatibeline@gmail.com
  • Jéssica M. R. Bacha Department of Physical Therapy, Speech and Occupational Therapy, School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
  • Rosemeyre A. Nuvolini Department of Physical Therapy, Speech and Occupational Therapy, School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
  • Keyte G. Silva Department of Physical Therapy, Speech and Occupational Therapy, School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
  • Marika Demers Post-doctoral research fellow, Motor Behavior and Neurorehabilitation Lab, University of Southern California, California, USA
  • Flávia Doná Postgraduate Program in Human Movement Sciences and Rehabilitation of Federal University of São Paulo, Santos, SP, Brazil
  • José E. Pompeu Department of Physical Therapy, Speech and Occupational Therapy, School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
  • Camila Torriani-Pasin Laboratory of Motor Behavior, School of Physical Education and Sport, University of São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20338/bjmb.v17i1.316

Keywords:

Parkinson’s disease, Postural control, Motor learning, Virtual reality

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are able to learn tasks with postural control demand, however, they need more practice, more sensory information, and extrinsic feedback for this improvement. These aspects could be provided by task performance on virtual environment. In addition, the retention interval found in these studies was short.  

AIM: To investigate the extent to which the learning of tasks involving a high demand for postural control is impacted in individuals with PD, and to determine the impact of the learning process on both cognition and postural control.

METHOD: The Experimental Group comprised 13 participants with PD and the Control Group comprises 14 healthy elderly. Participants took part in 13 one-hour sessions, which involved four Kinect system games, with high postural and cognitive demands. The short-term retention test was performed one week after the post-test, whereas the long-term retention test was performed one month after the post-test.

RESULTS: Individuals with PD learned the tasks with a high demand of postural control and demonstrated both short and long-term retention. The skill learning of the four tasks led to an improvement in cognitive functions specifically in memory. There was an improvement of reactive aspects of postural control in the elderly and with the individuals with PD, also better gait stability in the elderly.

CONCLUSION:Despite the degeneration in striatum, responsible of consolidation of motor learning, individuals with PD are able to learn motor skills with a high demand for postural control, retaining them in the long term.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Downloads

Published

2023-04-10

How to Cite

Freitas, T. B., Bacha, J. M. R., Nuvolini, R. A., Silva, K. G., Demers, M., Doná, F., … Torriani-Pasin, C. (2023). Learning of a postural control task in a virtual environment with Parkinson´s disease individuals. Brazilian Journal of Motor Behavior, 17(1), 59–68. https://doi.org/10.20338/bjmb.v17i1.316

Issue

Section

Research Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.