VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease

VA’s Office of Research and Development recently published three News Briefs highlighting research findings on spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease and VA hospital care quality.

VA game helps paralyzed Veterans exercise

Researchers with the VA Advanced Platform Technology Center piloted an exercise program that used virtual reality to make neuromuscular electrical stimulation more engaging, improving Veterans’ heart rates and exercise efforts.

Electrical stimulation can contract paralyzed muscles following a spinal cord injury, improving overall health, but it’s often boring for the Veteran. The researchers created a game in which the user rowed a virtual boat to keep pace with a goose flying overhead, attempting to catch dropped eggs. Both paralyzed Veteran volunteers found the electrical stimulation-assisted rowing to be more engaging and producing better results than when completing the exercise alone, suggesting this approach could improve engagement with electrical stimulation-assisted exercise and improve the cardiovascular fitness of Veterans with spinal cord injury.

Possible cause of cognitive decline in Parkinson’s found

VA Ann Arbor researchers and their colleagues identified a specific neurobiological mechanism behind cognitive decline in Parkinson’s disease, opening new possibilities for disease tracking and treatment.

The researchers used specialized scanning techniques to examine white matter brain lesions in 127 patients with Parkinson’s disease. They found legions on periventricular sections of the brain interfering with neural pathways, called cholinergic projections, were related with poorer cognitive function. The results suggest identifying the physical location of lesions in the white matter of the brain could serve as a biomarker for cognitive decline. Furthermore, these lesions could be a promising therapeutic target to prevent cognitive disruption in people with Parkinson’s disease.

Publication review finds VA hospitals deliver better care

A publication review study revealed Veterans received equal or better care at VA hospitals as at non-VA hospitals.

VA researchers reviewed all studies on quality of care published between 2015 and 2025, identifying 13 studies directly comparing acute hospital care received by Veterans. Across these studies, VA care was rated better than community care for multiple different medical conditions that would normally be treated at a hospital and was especially rated higher than non-VA hospitals for risk-adjusted mortality rates. The findings provide proof that inpatient care delivered directly through VA can provide the best treatment for Veterans and that the system is well-adapted to the medically and socially diverse Veteran population.

For more Office of Research and Development updates, visit ORD online or go to https://www.research.va.gov/news_briefs/.