Poster Information
| Title | Effects of dance video game training on single and dual task reaction times in healthy adults |
| Presenter(s) | Sabrina Ali, Zawadi Williams-Murray, Shaw Bronner, Adam Noah and Atsumichi Tachibana |
| Session | Conference Reception, Game Exhibition, and Poster Session |
| Time | Thursday, October 21, 7:00p-9:00p |
| Location | East Lansing Technology Innovation Center |
| Format | Poster Presentation |
| Description | Playing action video games appears to increase speed of cognitive processing with subsequent faster reaction times. It is unknown whether exer-games have the same effect on lower extremity reaction time (RT) tests.
Eight healthy adults trained on DDR for 30 hours. Subjects were tested pre and post training with single and dual RT tests. Participants stood on a force platform and stepped in reaction to an audio cue as quickly as possible. The dual task required the participant to react to an audio cue while simultaneously reading aloud. Timing required for subjects to initiate weight shift for stepping in anterior or posterior directions were calculated. Pre and post-test results were compared using paired t tests (p < 0.05). Early and late DDR game scores were calculated to determine effectiveness of game training. Subjects showed a significant improvement in all tests post training. Forward and backward stepping single RT resulted in 24% and 21% improvement (p<0.01) respectively. Forward and backward stepping dual RT resulted in 15.4% and 20% improvement (p<0.05) respectively. Subjects' game-scores increased significantly by a mean of 55.2%. Dual tasks involving both motoric and cognitive processing increase cognitive load. Improved ability to step quickly in real-world conditions can determine whether a fall occurs; particularly in elderly or disabled individuals. Therefore, it is important to determine whether regular exercise improves the speed of stepping and what type of exercise is most effective. These results demonstrate that DDR can substantially improve lower extremity dual-task processing skills in healthy adults. |