Alternative Therapy

Technological advances have facilitated the emergence of new approaches such as Yoga, Tai Chi, Virtual Reality (VR), and dance in the field of rehabilitation of individuals with neurological impairment’s. Our lab studies the effects of such alternate therapies on the cardiac and motor aspects in individuals with chronic stroke and Parkinsons. Western psychology studies the mind, western exercise physiology studies the effect of exercise on the body, but there is no emphasis on the interrelation of the mind with the physical activities.
The studies listed on this page show significant interrelations between the mind and functionally allocated tasks. We have found that aerobic dance training using VR improves the cardiac autonomic modulation in chronic stroke survivors. VR based dance paradigm has also shown significant improvement in the functional tasks involving the upper limb in Parkinson population. Other studies done on healthy subjects suggest that the age old practice of Yoga helps in reducing the cognitive motor interference and thus improves their dynamic balance. Another study with Tai Chi practitioners show that regular Tai Chi improves the reaction time to perturbations and improves stability and posture.