The Virtual Classroom: A Virtual Reality Environment for the Assessment and Rehabilitation of Attention Deficits

Virtual reality and neuropsychology: upgrading the current tools

BACKGROUND

Virtual reality (VR) is an evolving technology that has been applied in various aspects of medicine, including the treatment of phobia disorders, pain distraction interventions, surgical training, and medical education. These applications have served to demonstrate the various assets offered through the use of VR.

OBJECTIVE

To provide a background and rationale for the application of VR to neuropsychological assessment.

METHODS

A brief introduction to VR technology and a review of current ongoing neuropsychological research that integrates the use of this technology.

CONCLUSIONS

VR offers numerous assets that may enhance current neuropsychological assessment protocols and address many of the limitations faced by our traditional methods.

The UFRJ-UERJ group: interdisciplinary virtual reality experiments in neuropsychiatry

This paper describes the research lines of an interdisciplinary group composed by two government universities in Rio de Janeiro. The first research line, a Virtual Environment for testing the acceptance of Virtual Reality equipment by schizophrenia patients, has stimulated a growing interest in this area in the country and abroad. The second research line, in progress now, develops a virtual environment to improve the learning abilities of children with Attention-Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Another study is related to the use of Virtual Reality in the cognitive treatment of common city phobias, beginning with the reproduction of some tunnels of our city to treatment of claustrophobic patients. The last of the research lines in progress in this group develops a virtual square for stimulating autistic patients.

The effect of virtual reality cognitive training for attention enhancement

Our main goal in this research was to validate the possibility of virtual reality (VR) for attention enhancement in cognitive training program. Then, we developed some cognitive training tasks using VR technology. Thirty subjects who had little behavioral problems and social problems were randomly assigned into three groups: VR group, non-VR group, and control group. Only the VR group used the head-mounted display (HMD) and position sensor. While the VR group and non-VR group performed cognitive training, the control group received no special treatment. All participants took their eight session tasks over 2 weeks. Participants executed a continuous performance task (CPT) before and after training sessions. We found that immersive VR with cognitive training is effective for attention enhancement. Also, we confirmed that our cognitive training can improve the attention span of children and adolescents with behavioral problems and help them learn to focus on some tasks.