Abstract
Introduction: Limb-girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMDs) are neuromuscular and genetic disorders that progress with weakness and damage of the proximal muscles, developing with loss of functionality. Virtual reality environments are suggested as an effective alternative for performance of daily life activities. However, there is no evidence in the literature on the use of virtual reality in this population. Objective: Assess motor performance through a motor learning protocol in a coincident timing task. Methods: 10 participants with LGMD and 10 healthy individuals were selected and included in the study to perform a non-immersive virtual reality task divided into three phases: acquisition (20 attempts), retention (5 attempts), and transfer (5 attempts, with speed increase). Results: It is observed that the accuracy of movement improves from the beginning to the end of the acquisition (p = 0.01); however, there is a marginal difference between the groups in block A1 (p = 0.089). Regarding the variability of touches, observed by the variable error, both groups improved performance in all phases. Conclusion: Even with lower performance than the control group at the beginning of the practice, individuals with LGMD showed the potential to optimize motor function during the practice of a non-immersive virtual reality activity and were able to match their performance with the control group after a few attempts.
Highlights
Limb-girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMDs) are neuromuscular and genetic disorders that progress with weakness and damage of the proximal muscles, developing with loss of functionality
It is observed that the accuracy of movement improves from the beginning to the end of the acquisition (p = 0.01); there is a marginal difference between the groups in block A1 (p = 0.089)
Even with lower performance than the control group at the beginning of the practice, individuals with LGMD showed the potential to optimize motor function during the practice of a non-immersive virtual reality activity and were able to match their performance with the control group after a few attempts
Summary
Limb-girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMDs) are neuromuscular and genetic disorders that progress with weakness and damage of the proximal muscles, developing with loss of functionality. Muscular dystrophies (MDs) are a heterogeneous group of inherited disorders that share similar clinical features and dystrophic changes in muscle biopsy[1] associated with progressive skeletal muscle weakness and wasting[2]. A peculiar type of muscular dystrophy is limb-girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMDs), which are a diverse group of genetic neuromuscular conditions that usually manifest in the proximal muscles of the hip and shoulder girdles and have a typical age of onset between 10 and 30 years of age[13,14,15]. LGMDs are characterized by weakness and wasting of the proximal upper and lower limb muscles, with progressive loss of functionality. The evolution of muscle weakness is usually symmetrical, but it varies in the severity of muscle fiber atrophy and speed of progression between men and women and between individuals[17,18]
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