Exer-Gaming Seniors Have Lower Risk of Cognitive Decline

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Technology that can improve seniors’ physical and cognitive health has already hit the market—such as the CyberCycle—but there’s far more to come, if Microsoft’s recently-revealed IllumiRoom is any indication, and it could change the whole landscape of memory care.

With dementia cases projected to number as many as 100 million by 2050, researchers are seeking interventions to curb or prevent cognitive decline that are engaging to seniors.

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While exercise is shown to yield many health benefits, few older adults exercise, according to researchers in a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

However, combining exercise with video gaming and a competitive angle—something the CyberCycle does—can help motivate seniors to exercise, yielding both physical benefits and a decreased risk of cognitive impairments, new research suggests.

CyberCycles are specially-designed exercise bikes that include virtual-reality screens to simulate outdoor biking and racing. Bikes are equipped with handlebars on each side for steering, and “riders” can interact with the screen with a virtual track.

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Health and wellness researchers for the CyberCycle study conducted a randomized clinical trial on 102 older adults from eight retirement communities to test the virtual reality-enhanced bike.

The researchers wanted to find out if stationary cycling with virtual reality tours could enhance executive function and clinical status more than traditional exercise. They also wanted to study whether exercise effort would explain improvement, and if brain-derived neurotrophic growth factor (BDNF) would increase.

Older adults who used the CyberCycle achieved better cognitive function than traditional exercisers, for the same effort, the researchers found, and the 63 seniors who completed the study had a 23% relative risk reduction in clinical progression to mild cognitive impairment.

This suggests that simultaneous cognitive and physical exercise has greater potential for preventing cognitive decline, the researchers concluded.

Adding in the virtual component can take the monotony out of exercise, with an added possible benefit of brain stimulation, says Davis Park, Director of The Front Porch Center for Technology Innovation and Wellbeing (CTIW), a non-profit organization that looks for ways technology innovation can enhance the lives of seniors.

Two Southern California Front Porch communities recently wrapped up a seven-week pilot for the CyberCycle fitness program, with 16 residents participating.

Each community had its own bike, both of which were wirelessly connected to the Internet. Participants had separate log-ins to the bike to track results, such as heart rate, distance, calories burned, which were recorded on a back-end server.

Rather than study a change in cognitive ability, the Front Porch pilot tracked vital stats and found that the average speed of the riders increased 5% in the course of the pilot.

Rider efficiency also improved from week 1 to week 7, with 88% of the 16 participants either maintaining or improving their fitness level. Across all riders, efficiency improved an average of 20%.

An added value of the CyberCycle, Park says, is that along with being interactive, is also has a social networking aspect, introducing a competitive angle.

Riders can compete against others through a leaderboard component allowing participants to compare number of miles ridden, or calories burned, all throughout the entire CyberCycle community.

“We’ve learned, when we introduce new technologies, it has to be fun and engaging—especially to the point where they don’t feel it’s a health or wellness activity,” Park says. “Once you throw in those health and wellness words, it kind of turns people off.”

As healthcare becomes an increasingly big national issue, especially with the boomer population starting to retire and needing an adequate healthcare system, says Park, it becomes more important for technology to address the needs of the population.

The data and metrics the CyberCycle is able to track, such as heart rate and calories burned along with its cognitive components, may someday be “a lot more accessible” in terms of being able to give people a reading on how well they’re doing, he says.

The CyberCycle is an example of where technology is now when it comes to introducing virtual reality aspects to senior living, but newer technologies—such as Microsoft’s IllumiRoom—are constantly being developed.

Microsoft Research unveiled the IllumiRoom in January at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, although an actual product has not yet been released. The concept of the IllumiRoom is to augment the area surrounding a TV screen with projected visualizations to enhance the traditional entertainment experience.

The system uses Kinect for Windows and a projector to blur the lines between on-screen content and the surrounding environment, allowing views to combine virtual and physical worlds, says Microsoft. Capabilities will include the ability to change the appearance of the room, induce apparent motion, and extend the field of view.

While right now it’s being viewed mainly in light of its Xbox capabilities for the younger crowd, the concept has potential for older adults, too, if adaptive uses are developed for seniors who might benefit from additional visualizations and interaction beyond what’s available on the TV screen.

When it comes to memory care, especially, one possible application of the IllumiRoom could be to project an individualized scene or setting in a memory care resident’s room that could be familiar and soothing. Or, similar to the CyberCycle, the concept could be used to enhance a senior’s exercise experience with an amplified virtual reality component.

“Technology offers one of the biggest promises with the ability to leverage solutions, to find ways to have people take control over their own healthcare,” says Parks. “The more you’re able to be aware of how you’re doing health-wise, the more you’re able to self-intervene.”

Access the American Journal of Preventive Medicine study or watch a video about the IllumiRoom concept.

Written by Alyssa Gerace

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  • I think with the introduction of the Wii game playing system a few years back told us a lot about how new technology can and does work with Seniors as a physical fitness platform. That took many by surprise, the benefits that it gave to our seniors. Since that time many new systems and games have been introduced to try to get more and more seniors involved in their own fun filled physical fitness programs, and it works to that extent. Also since that time, many new Brain Training games have also been introduced as a way of keeping the mind physically active and engaged, with some promising results. Marrying the two seems to be a natural, and the more on the market the better.

    This is where technology, and our free enterprise system come into play in making new and very beneficial platforms that will be part of the way we eventually take care of our aging population. There is no one magic system and cure all, it is through a combination of new technologies that will help solve some of our problems, and help seniors age both physically and mentally with all the ingenuity that we can bring to the table.

    We here at the Alzheimer's Research Association encourage the use of all these new technologies to help with our senior population, and try to encourage our members to utilize almost every new system that comes along. The comments from our members on this subject has just been amazing, almost every single one being positive.

    I have said it before on these pages, we are lucky enough in this country to have some really smart people working for some really smart companies that bring solutions to problems. Almost no where else on the planet do we find that kind of combination of both people and companies that solve problems, not create them.

    We need to encourage more of this, because it works. It is not going to stop Alzheimer's in its tracks, but it could slow it down, and if it was just by an extra day or two there would be some very grateful people out there.

    Joe Lucido
    Director
    Alzheimer's Research Association <a href="http://www.alzra.org” target=”_blank”>www.alzra.org

  • Perhaps smartphone apps targeting seniors should include more video games and less medical support stuff. For examples, the "apps" available for the senior phones from GreatCall are about taking your meds (rather than exercise) and accessing urgent response services in case of medical issues.

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