No abstract

Oral motor exercises, for recovering tongue strength, can be integrated with computer games to increase motivation, especially for treatments in children. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of tongue strength on motor performance in computer games reliant on lingual force generation. An observational study was carried out at a speech‐language pathology outpatient university clinic. Twenty participants (10 with normal tongue strength and 10 with reduced tongue strength) aged 8‐13 years used an intra‐oral joystick controlled by the tongue to play six computer games during which they had to reach targets that appeared on the screen. Motor performance was measured by the number of attempts to score and the time during which the target force was maintained. Tongue motor performance was compared between groups and across directions of tongue movement, resistance force levels, order of target appearance, continuous force application time on the target, age and sex. Children with normal tongue strength had a lower number of attempts to score (P = .014) and maintained the target force for longer periods (P = .002) than those with reduced tongue strength. The performance was better for both groups (a) in the downward direction compared with the performance in other directions, (b) in games with the lowest resistive force level (0.5 N) compared to those with other levels of resistive force and (c) in the second and third rounds compared with the first round. There were no gender‐related differences in performance. Older participants performed better than younger participants. Tongue strength, direction of movement, force to reach the target, time of continuous force application, order of target appearance and age influenced tongue motor performance.

Background Alteration in tongue mobility requires rehabilitation work through oral motor exercises. These exercises can be integrated with computer games to increase the patient’s motivation during treatment. Objective To investigate the influence of tongue mobility on children’s motor performance in a computer game reliant on lingual movements. Methods A cross‐sectional descriptive observational study was carried out with 16 children with altered tongue mobility and 16 children with normal tongue mobility. The subjects were between 8 and 12 years of age. They underwent a clinical evaluation of the tongue and performed an activity using an intra‐oral joystick controlled by the tongue to play a simple computer game. The game consisted of targets appearing on the screen that the participants had to reach by moving the joystick control rod. Afterward, the participants answered a feedback questionnaire. Motor performance in the game, measured by the number of reached targets and by the time to reach the targets, was compared between groups and across directions of tongue movement and order of appearance of the targets. Results The group with altered tongue mobility presented a higher time to reach the target in the downward direction and in the first and last 12 targets and a lower number of targets reached in the left direction, upward direction, and in the first 12 targets than the control group. The direction of the movement influenced tongue performance in both groups. Conclusion Children with altered tongue mobility exhibited a worse performance than those with normal tongue mobility.

PURPOSE: To investigate the motivation and the effects of: tongue movement direction; resistance force level; repetition number; and sustained tongue contraction duration on tongue motor performance in healthy pre-teen children using computer games. METHODS: An analytical observational cross-sectional study was conducted with 15 healthy 11-13 year-old children with normal lingual strength. The participants played six computer games using a tongue-controlled joystick. The series varied the time for continuous force application on the target (3 and 5 seconds) and the target force level (0.5, 1 and 2 N). After the tests, the participants answered a questionnaire about their impressions and reactions to the game. The variables analyzed were number of attempts to score (NAS), time for which the target force was maintained (TTFM), and the time spent for scoring (TSS). RESULTS: Of 43 normally developing candidates screened for the study, 15 (35%) were included for having entirely normal tongue structure and function and for being able to complete all of the study tasks. Of the 15 participants, 11 (73.3%) said that it was easy to play, three (20.0%) found it a bit hard to play, and only one (6.6%) considered it difficult to play. The results suggest that healthy individuals with normal lingual structure and function are able to successfully perform the games, but those with longer durations of sustained contraction (5 seconds) and the most required force (2 N) are the most difficult. Leftward and upward movements were more difficult than rightward and downward movements. CONCLUSION: All of these carefully selected participants were able to perform all of the study tasks, indicating that this method is feasible for pre-teens with normal lingual structure and function. The joystick device encouraged the participants to perform tongue movements that may be part of the typical orofacial myofunctional treatment exercises for tongue function. Results indicated that this game has the potential to be highly motivating for pre-teen children who are able to perform the tasks.