The influence of tongue mobility on children's performance in computer games that depend on lingual movements

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.