“Brain” video games could help patients with multiple sclerosisto improve their functional connections, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal Radiology.
Researchers from Sapienza University (Italy) conducted a study with 24 patients disabled by multiple sclerosis and cognitive impairment. Half of the participants had to follow a rehabilitation program based on video games that use puzzles, mental challenges, memory exercises. They played 30 minutes, five days a week. They were then assessed using cognitive tests and MRIs.
Video games, a real help support
During follow-up, the 12 patients in the “video game group” recorded significant increases in functional connectivity in areas of the brain involved in cognition. The results provide an example of plasticity, or even the ability of the brain to form new connections throughout life.
“This increased connectivity reflects the fact that the video game experience has changed the way certain brain structures work,” said Dr. De Giglio, from the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry at Sapienza University. “This means that even a widely used and common tool like video games can promote brain plasticity and can aid in cognitive rehabilitation for people with neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis.”
This study confirms that video games are real tools to improve the lives of patients with multiple sclerosis. Indeed, in September 2014, a study published in the medical journal Radiology claimed that training regularly with the Wii Balance Board would help patients with multiple sclerosis to improve their balance and the precision of their movements.
A debilitating disease
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects between 70,000 and 90,000 people in France. Each year, between 3000 and 5000 new cases are diagnosed, with a clear predominance in women. Difficulty walking, fatigue, weakness in the limbs, chronic pain are some of the symptoms of the disease. There is no treatment to cure the SEP which affects 2.5 million people worldwide.
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