Training healthy persons and individuals with Parkinson's disease to use Xbox Kinect games: A preliminary study

Background/Aims: Individuals with Parkinson's disease, besides the motor and cognitive symptoms may even present deficits in the motor learning. A recent therapeutic approach involves virtual reality that offers elements that can minimize the difficulties in the learning process. Recently, the therapeutic potential of Nintendo Wii' gaming device for rehabilitation of patients with Parkinson's disease has been showing positive results, but studies related to the use of the Kinect for XboxTM are still scarce. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of motor and cognitive demands of six Kinect for Xbox 360TM games on the learning of patients with Parkinson's disease, comparing it with healthy individuals. Methods: A total of 19 adults, 8 with idiopathic Parkinson's disease and 11 healthy adults participated in a program which included 10 training sessions and had their scores registered three times. Findings: The results showed that in four of those games, patients with Parkinson's disease showed an ability to improve and keep their performance, but not in the other two games, similar to healthy adults. Conclusions: It was concluded that motor and cognitive abilities affected by Parkinson's disease may be improved with the use of virtual training proposed in this study. Some of the games and gaming devices features can influence the learning process, even in healthy adults.