Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA.
Department of Physical Therapy, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA.
NeuroRehabilitation. 2013;33(4):667-80. doi: 10.3233/NRE-130985.
Virtual reality games and simulations have been utilized successfully for motor rehabilitation of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Little is known, however, how TBI-related cognitive decline affects learning of motor tasks in virtual environments.
To fill this gap, we examined learning within a virtual reality game involving various reaching motions in 14 patients with TBI and 15 healthy individuals with different cognitive abilities.
All participants practiced ten 90-second gaming trials to assess various aspects of motor learning. Cognitive abilities were assessed with a battery of tests including measures of memory, executive functioning, and visuospatial ability.
Overall, participants with TBI showed both reduced performance and a slower learning rate in the virtual reality game compared to healthy individuals. Numerous correlations between overall performance and several of the cognitive ability domains were revealed for both the patient and control groups, with the best predictor being overall cognitive ability.
The results may provide a starting point for rehabilitation programs regarding which cognitive domains interact with motor learning.
虚拟现实游戏和模拟已成功应用于创伤性脑损伤（TBI）患者的运动康复。然而，人们对 TBI 相关认知能力下降如何影响虚拟环境中的运动任务学习知之甚少。
为了填补这一空白，我们在 14 名 TBI 患者和 15 名认知能力不同的健康个体中，研究了虚拟现实游戏中涉及各种伸展运动的学习情况。
所有参与者均进行了十次 90 秒的游戏训练，以评估运动学习的各个方面。认知能力通过一系列测试进行评估，包括记忆、执行功能和视空间能力的测量。
总的来说，与健康个体相比，TBI 患者在虚拟现实游戏中的表现和学习速度均有所降低。对于患者和对照组，整体表现与多个认知能力领域之间存在大量相关性，最佳预测因素是整体认知能力。
这些结果可能为康复计划提供起点，了解哪些认知领域与运动学习相互作用。
