Many people who have had a stroke struggle to regain full control of hand and arm movement. Researchers have discovered video games to help patients recover. Improvements were found in hand/arm coordination, accuracy, and speed. The games also helped restore grip precision and individual finger motion.
Patients played for 2-3 hours per day for eight days. Those who played the games had better reach control, more stable muscle usage, and more smooth, efficient motion. Tests showed more finger control and speed.
The control group, who had uninjured arms, showed no improvement. Patients with a second hand/arm injury also demonstrated no gains in the arm not used for gaming.
The gamers showed improvements of 20-22% over eight days. Certainly worth investigating for more patients.