Virtual Reality / Treadmill Therapy May Help Reduce Fall Rates among
  Parkinson's Disease Patients
From: Rehab Management - 11/29/2017

Researchers suggest that treadmill training with virtual reality helps lower
the incidence of falling among Parkinson’s disease patients by changing the
brain’s behavior and promoting beneficial brain plasticity.

The study, titled "Disparate Effects of Training on Brain Activation in
Parkinson Disease," and conducted by researchers from Tel Aviv Medical
Center, was published recently in the journal Neurology.

"We also showed that a specific form of exercise targeting the cognitive
control of gait - combined treadmill training with a Virtual Reality
representation of obstacles in a path - leads to a significantly lower fall
rate in Parkinson's patients", says Professor Jeff Hausdorff, from TAU's
Sackler School of Medicine and Tel Aviv Medical Center.

"The Virtual Reality gait program, in which patients must avoid obstacles,
enhances the patient's cognitive performance and thus reduces the requirement
for prefrontal brain activity," he adds.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.rehabpub.com/2017/11/virtual-realitytreadmill-therapy-may-help-reduce-fall-rates-among-parkinsons-disease-patients

Links:
Disparate effects of training on brain activation in Parkinson disease
http://n.neurology.org/content/89/17/1804

Jeff Hausdorff
https://www.tasmc.org.il/sites/en/Personnel/Pages/Hausdorff-Jeff.aspx