Mechanism of Kinect-based virtual reality training for motor functional recovery of upper limbs after subacute stroke

Xiao Bao; Yurong Mao; Qiang Lin; Yunhai Qiu; Shaozhen Chen; Le Li; Ryan S Cates; Shufeng Zhou; Dongfeng Huang

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.31.003

Mechanism of Kinect-based virtual reality training for motor functional recovery of upper limbs after subacute stroke

Neural Regen Res. 2013 Nov 5;8(31):2904-13. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.31.003.

Authors

Xiao Bao¹, Yurong Mao¹, Qiang Lin¹, Yunhai Qiu², Shaozhen Chen¹, Le Li¹, Ryan S Cates³, Shufeng Zhou³, Dongfeng Huang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, Guangdong Province, China.
² Key Laboratory of Health Informatics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Shenzhen 518055, Guangdong Province, China.
³ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, USA.

PMID: 25206611
PMCID: PMC4146174
DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.31.003

Abstract

The Kinect-based virtual reality system for the Xbox 360 enables users to control and interact with the game console without the need to touch a game controller, and provides rehabilitation training for stroke patients with lower limb dysfunctions. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, 18 healthy subjects and five patients after subacute stroke were included. The five patients were scanned using functional MRI prior to training, 3 weeks after training and at a 12-week follow-up, and then compared with healthy subjects. The Fugl-Meyer Assessment and Wolf Motor Function Test scores of the hemiplegic upper limbs of stroke patients were significantly increased 3 weeks after training and at the 12-week follow-up. Functional MRI results showed that contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex was activated after Kinect-based virtual reality training in the stroke patients compared with the healthy subjects. Contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex, the bilateral supplementary motor area and the ipsilateral cerebellum were also activated during hand-clenching in all 18 healthy subjects. Our findings indicate that Kinect-based virtual reality training could promote the recovery of upper limb motor function in subacute stroke patients, and brain reorganization by Kinect-based virtual reality training may be linked to the contralateral sensorimotor cortex.

Keywords: Kinect-based virtual reality training; brain activation; cerebral cortex; functional MRI; grants-supported paper; neural plasticity; neural regeneration; neurological rehabilitation; neuroregeneration; region of interest; rehabilitation training; stroke; upper limb; virtual reality.