Exergaming & Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system and is the most common cause of neurological disabilities in young adults. MS patients suffer from a wide range of motor and cognitive deficits, e.g. muscle weakness, fatigue, depression, etc. Next to the quality of life, these impairments also affect health care costs. Thus, a huge need exists to counteract these motor and cognitive deficits to counteract deconditioning.
Interesting approaches are so-called exergames that can train motor and cognitive functions by the combination of physical exercise and video gaming. The included video games can train different cognitive abilities and whole body movements can control the video game navigation.
Previous studies indicated that exergames have positive effects in MS patients. However, these exergames were commercially video games, which were not specifically designed for MS patients. Therefore, a need persists for a motivating and user-centered exergame for MS patients.
This project aims...
- to develop a user-centered exergame and investigates its usability, feasibility and effectiveness
- to develop physical and cognitive assessments to determine the baseline status and the training adaptations
This project is a collaboration of external pageDividat, external pageZurich University of the Arts and ETH Zurich. The video games will be designed and programmed by the Zurich University of the Arts. The Dividat Senso will be used to control the exergame. The study planning and conduction will be performed by the ETH Zurich.
