In a new study, Northwestern University scientists developed a 90s-style video game to help chronic stroke survivors regain lost arm function. While wearing a small device on their impaired arm and using a laptop computer, players use their arm muscles to complete tasks such as flying a helicopter around the screen to hit a moving target. The muscle retraining helps separate the brain’s uncoordinated movement signals, enabling muscles to work independently again.

Kyoto, Japan -- Dementia makes most things in life more difficult, including hospital care. Though often essential for patients suffering from severe acute illness, hospital care can be confusing for persons with dementia, or PWD. Compared to older adults without dementia, PWD in the United States visit the emergency room and are hospitalized at higher rates. In these cases, the decision for a hospital stay requires a delicate balance between the potential benefits and risks of hospital care.

Previous research has suggested that PWD who are admitted to the hospital have higher mortality rates and spend more days away from home in the following months than their non-admitted counterparts. However, a possible explanation for this is that the admitted patients are already in worse condition -- in unmeasured ways -- than their counterparts.

Intrigued by this conundrum, a team of researchers at Kyoto University and the University of California, Los Angeles examined whether hospital admissions have a causal effect on health outcomes for persons with dementia, and also investigated the effect on their subsequent healthcare spending.