A combination of virtual reality (VR) and treadmill exercise can lower the incidence of falls among Parkinson’s disease patients, a study has found.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel concluded that VR and exercise therapy changes the brain’s behaviour, underlining the importance of combining cognitive rehabilitation with motor rehabilitation in Parkinson’s patients.

The study, published in Neurology, was conducted by Professor Jeff Hausdorff and his colleagues at the university’s Sackler School of Medicine.

Patients with Parkinson’s experience gradual neuronal loss, leading to cognitive and motor impairments that damage their ability to walk and cause debilitating, often fatal, falls.

Seventeen subjects in two groups underwent a six-week programme, exercising three times a week for about an hour each time.

One group combined treadmill training with VR and one which used treadmill training alone.

The VR group played a game using special headsets in which they viewed their feet walking in a city or park environment. Through the game, they learned how to deal with obstacles in the virtual environment, how to plan ahead and how to do two things at once.

The other group focused purely on walking on a treadmill.

Using MRI imagery, the researchers evaluated brain activation patterns of the patients before and after the exercise sessions, finding the VR programme helped enhance the cognitive performance of participants.

As a result, there were fewer falls in the combined VR and treadmill group during the programme.

“The study’s findings reinforce the hypothesis that training improves motor and cognitive performance through improved neuroplasticity – more so than that seen with treadmill training alone,” said Prof Hausdorff.

“Interestingly, the benefits of treadmill training with VR were specifically seen during walking conditions that require cognitive input, conditions associated with falls in everyday environments.”