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Department of Physical Therapy , presented a poster at the World Parkinson Congress on a pilot study she led that examined the effect of exercise paired with virtual reality-based games on balance and cognition in people with Parkinson’s disease.

The international conference was held in Phoenix in May. Sivaramakrishnan shared data from her study that compared balance, cognition and functional endurance outcomes from two groups of ran

domly assigned study participants over an 8-week period. One group performed high-intensity interval training exercise followed by virtual reality games, and the other group performed whole body stretching and virtual reality games. All study participants had a Parkinson’s diagnosis and balance impairment.

The pilot study found that the combination of high-intensity interval training exercise and virtual reality games may improve balance and functional endurance in people with Parkinson’s disease.

“Our goal for this study was to improve balance and reduce fall risk,” she said, which provided pilot data for future research Sivaramakrishan is planning.

The conference was  attended by people with Parkinson’s disease, their caregivers, researchers and medical providers from around the world.

“It was the first time I had people with Parkinson’s disease walk by my poster,” she said. “It feels like I really got a unique perspective from the end user, a person with Parkinson’s.”

Also in May, Sivaramakrishnan spoke at the 3rd Annual Parkinson’s Symposium hosted by ����һ������. Her remarks focused on balance and the importance of exercise to reduce fall risk.