Is the Nintendo Wii the miracle game console of our generation? It's been used for everything from casual gaming to fitness, and now even doctors are finding some benefits to it. Stroke victims are now being rehabilitated with the aid of popular games on the Nintendo Wii, after doctors have discovered that the games help to rewire the brain after it has been damaged by a blood clot.

Unlike the majority of video games, the Wii, because of its motion-sensitive controllers, involves acting out all the physical movements involved in regular sports, such as tennis, golf, or boxing. Doctors in the U.S. are now beginning to use the Wii to help stroke victims regain movement in their arms and legs, and German clincians have also been reported to be using it to help speed up recovery in injured soldiers.

Strokes occur when the blood supply to the brain is cut off due to a clot in a blood vessel in the head. Blood carries important nutrients and oxygen to the brain, and without it cells can become damaged and/or destroyed. Any damage will cause other problematic symptoms, such as movement of limbs and speech.

Six months following a stroke, about 50% of survivors still need help with everyday tasks such as dressing, eating, and using the bathroom. Once brain cells ahve been damaged they cannot regenerate, but doctors do know that intensive physiotherapy can help the brain re-learn how to move limbs. The way it does this is by getting other undamaged nerve cells to set up new "pathways", through which the brain can pass on instructions.

Re-learning basic things like how to move your limbs is a long and arduous process, and requires prolonged and repeated therapy. But U.S. doctors now believe that the Nintendo Wii can serve as a fun and cheap form a therapy that patients can even practice at home if they get their own console and games.

Researchers at the Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota have begun experimenting on patients who find traditional exercises too boring and tedious.