The Use of a Computer Game to Rehabilitate Sensorimotor Functional Deficits following a Subarachnoid Haemorrhage

Abstract

The study describes how a computer game was used as a kinaesthetic training aid to resolve sensorimotor functional deficits in a patient recovering from a subarachnoid haemorrhage. The game required the patient, a 34-year-old male, to initiate the appropriate finger movements (as used in his daily work) in response to a visual stimulus, and by the recording and display of temporal reaction times, allowed him to quantify and improve his alacrity. Comparisons between pre- and post-training data showed thatthe patientsignificantly reduced both the number of moves required and the time taken to complete a game. The study convincingly demonstrates that individually “tailored” and extensively practised training procedures can reduce functional deficits and even enable full occupational rehabilitation.