Citation

Omiyale O, Crowell CR, Madhavan S. J. Mot. Behav. 2014; 47(3): 190-200.

Affiliation

a Department of Physical Therapy , University of Illinois at Chicago.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00222895.2014.971699

PMID

25425118

Abstract

The objective was to examine the effectiveness of a 3-week balance training program using the Nintendo Wii Fit gaming system (Nintendo Wii Sports, Nintendo, Redmond, WA) on lower limb corticomotor excitability and other clinical measures in chronic stroke survivors. Ten individuals diagnosed with ischemic stroke with residual hemiparesis received balance training using the Wii Fit for 60 min/day, three times/week, for three weeks. At the end of training, an increase in interhemispheric symmetry of corticomotor excitability of the tibialis anterior muscle representations was noted (n = 9). Participants also showed improvements in reaction time, time to perform the Dual Timed-Up-and-Go test, and balance confidence. The training-induced balance in corticomotor excitability suggests that this Wii-based balance training paradigm has the potential to influence neural plasticity and thereby functional recovery.

Language: en