Background: Elderly individuals often face challenges in making appropriate motor adaptations in response to various situational disturbances and task demands. Unfortunately, there remains a lack of rehabilitation programs specifically tailored to improve the motor adaptation capacity in the upper limbs of the elderly. Recent neuroimaging studies suggest that mirror visual feedback (MVF) enhances learning-related brain plasticity, thereby improving upper limb (UL) function in older adults. Furthermore, current evidence indicates that vibrotactile stimulation is an effective and beneficial feedback modality for reducing age-related sensorimotor impairment. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the effects of vibrotactile-enriched Virtual Reality-based Mirror Therapy (VR-MT) on the motor adaptation capacity of the upper limbs in healthy young adults and elderly individuals.
Methods: This was a randomized, assessor-blinded study. The recruited participants received 12 sessions of vibrotactile-enriched VR-MT. The primary outcome was the FRPeak of a pinch-holding-up activity (PHUA) test, which assesses the ratio between peak pinch force and the maximum load of a pinch apparatus. This test was used to evaluate the motor adaptation capacity in response to changes in load force during the lifting of an object.
Results: Five males and ten females, with a mean age of 65.5 ± 5.7 years, participated in the study. The mean change in the FRPeak parameter of the PHUA test decreased from 3.75 ± 1.23 to 2.92 ± 0.44, indicating a significant within-group improvement following vibrotactile-enriched VR-MT.
Conclusions: The findings indicated that vibrotactile-enriched VR-MT potentially improves the motor adaptation capacity of the hands in healthy older adults.

Authors:
Hsiu-Yun Hsu, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Che-Wei Lin, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Yu-Ching Lin, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Li-Chieh Kuo, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Hsu is currently Chief of Occupational Therapy of Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Clinical Professor of Department of Occupational Therapy, National Cheng Kung University.

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/hsiu-yun-hsu-514346178/

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