ArmeoSenso - Reward

Cereneo

Status

Terminated

Conditions

Stroke

Treatments

Behavioral: high incentive

Behavioral: low incentive

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Industry

Identifiers

NCT02257125

EKNZ (LU) 13079

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study investigates the use of motivating/rewarding features in a computer based arm rehabilitation program. Half of the subjects will take part, besides receiving standard therapy, in a computer based program delivering a game like scenario with visual effects and monetary rewards in case of successful level completion, while the other half will take part in a similar program without visual effects or the possibility to earn money.

Full description

Rewards not only increase motivation to train, but have also been shown to influence motor skill learning via activation of dopaminergic brain structures. In goal oriented tasks, receiving information about goal achievement has a rewarding value, which is further increased if performance has monetary consequences. Computer games often strengthen this kind of information by presenting explosions and other salient stimuli when a goal is achieved (e.g. a target has been reached). The current study investigates the outcome of an arm rehabilitation program, based on such a computer game delivered in two versions. Stroke patients are asked to use their impaired arms to perform goal oriented movements. Movements are translated into movements of a virtual arm on a computer screen. Goals are "meteors", threatening to destroy a planet on which they fall, if not caught by the virtual arm. One version of the computer game delivers state of the art graphics including a number of visual effects and, if the planet was protected successfully, information about a monetary reward, whereas the other version of the program delivers schematic graphic objects only. Training time and intensity are kept constant and outcome measures, including standard clinical motor assessments, are compared between the groups.

Enrollment

38 patients

Sex

All

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

stroke survivor (max. 100 days post-stroke)
upper extremity motor deficits
patient can lift the paretic arm against gravity
patient can move the hand at least 20x20 cm in a horizontal plane
patient is able and willing to participate
patient has signed informed consent

Exclusion criteria

severe aphasia (impairing verbal instructions)
severe dementia (impairing the capability to understand instructions)
severe depression (impairing motivation to train)
relevant (in the judgement of the investigator) impairment of visual perception, (impairing perception of goals and feedback on the computer screen)