Virtual Reality Shows Promise for Early Detection of Multiple Sclerosis Balance Problems

The researchers, in a study published in PLoS One, used a virtual reality (VR) system to trick subjects into thinking they were falling as they walked on a treadmill. The scientists found clear differences in reactions between people with MS and people of the same age without MS. These differences were not evident between the groups when they walked in a normal way without the “falling” illusion.

The researchers believe that a VR-based test like this, after further study and development, could be made portable and used widely in neurology clinics to alert MS patients earlier to their balance impairments, allowing them to adopt measures to reduce their risk of falling.

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