title: Effects of sensory cueing in virtual motor rehabilitation. A review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To critically identify studies that evaluate the effects of cueing in virtual motor rehabilitation in patients having different neurological disorders and to make recommendations for future studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from MEDLINE®, IEEExplore, Science Direct, Cochrane library and Web of Science was searched until February 2015. We included studies that investigate the effects of cueing in virtual motor rehabilitation related to interventions for upper or lower extremities using auditory, visual, and tactile cues on motor performance in non-immersive, semi-immersive, or fully immersive virtual environments. These studies compared virtual cueing with an alternative or no intervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ten studies with a total number of 153 patients were included in the review. All of them refer to the impact of cueing in virtual motor rehabilitation, regardless of the pathological condition. After selecting the articles, the following variables were extracted: year of publication, sample size, study design, type of cueing, intervention procedures, outcome measures, and main findings. The outcome evaluation was done at baseline and end of the treatment in most of the studies. All of studies except one showed improvements in some or all outcomes after intervention, or, in some cases, in favor of the virtual rehabilitation group compared to the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Virtual cueing seems to be a promising approach to improve motor learning, providing a channel for non-pharmacological therapeutic intervention in different neurological disorders. However, further studies using larger and more homogeneous groups of patients are required to confirm these findings.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Electronic Engineering and Communications, University of Zaragoza, Ciudad Escolar S/N, 44003 Teruel, Spain. Electronic address: guillermo.palacios@unizar.es.
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palacios-Navarro
authors.affiliation: Dept. de Informática e Ingeniería de Sistemas, University of Zaragoza, Ciudad Escolar S/N, 44003 Teruel, Spain. Electronic address: salbiol@unizar.es.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Albiol-Pérez
authors.affiliation: Dept. de Informática e Ingeniería de Sistemas, University of Zaragoza, Ciudad Escolar S/N, 44003 Teruel, Spain. Electronic address: ivangmg@unizar.es.
authors.forename: Iván
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: García-Magariño García
mesh_terms: D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic / Q000534:rehabilitation; D003463:Cues; D006801:Humans; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D000066530:Neurological Rehabilitation / Q000379:methods*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation / Q000379:methods; D063367:Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Disorders; Human computer interaction; Virtual cueing; Virtual motor rehabilitation