Desarrollo de un protocolo de realidad virtual con el objetivo de la reeducación funcional del movimiento de alcance en pacientes con Parkinson

Abstract

Studies and therapies based on the creation of a virtual reality environment are increasingly used in various areas of neuro-rehabilitation. Perhaps, the reason for this is virtual reality allows the design of specific functional activities and movements for their traning. In the present work, we designed a low-cost virtual reality system for the evaluation and traning of arm reaching movements in different clinical populations. As a central study of the thesis, we evaluated the effect of training the reaching movement in Parkinson’s disease patients. A pilot study was conceived on the hypothesis that the observation of an action would facilitate the performance of the same action in the patients, which would suggest a possible therapeutic strategy that facilitates motor re-learning and improves motor function in the disease. To achieve these objectives, a series of studies were carried out, in which kinematic and neurophysiological variables were evaluated with accelerometry, electromyography or transcranial magnetic stimulation. The results of the therapy based on movement observation during the execution in virtual reality showed mild changes in patient’s motor execution. These findings indicate that the use of virtual reality combined with the observation of a movement during its execution might improve reaching movements in Parkinson’s disease, but further research should optimize the intervention protocol.