Virtual Reality for the Assessment of Everyday Cognitive Functions in Older Adults: An Evaluation of the Virtual Reality Action Test and Two Interaction Devices in a 91-Year-Old Woman

Synchronization of a Virtual Reality Scenario to Uterine Contractions for Labor Pain Management: Development Study and Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Labor is described as one of the most painful events women can experience through their lives, and labor pain shows unique features and rhythmic fluctuations. Purpose: The present study aims to evaluate virtual reality (VR) analgesic interventions for active labor with biofeedback-based VR technologies synchronized to uterine activity. Materials and Methods: We developed a VR system modeled on uterine contractions by connecting it to cardiotocographic equipment. We conducted a randomized controlled trial on a sample of 74 cases and 80 controls during active labor. Results: Results of the study showed a significant reduction of pain scores compared with both preintervention scores and to control group scores; a significant reduction of anxiety levels both compared with preintervention assessment and to control group and significant reduction in fear of labor experience compared with controls. Conclusion: VR may be considered as an effective nonpharmacological analgesic technique for the treatment of pain and anxiety and fear of childbirth experience during labor. The developed system could improve personalization of care, modulating the multisensory stimulation tailored to labor progression. Further studies are needed to compare the synchronized VR system to uterine activity and unsynchronized VR interventions.

The role of sense of presence in expressing cognitive abilities in a virtual reality task: an initial validation study

There is a raised interest in literature to use Virtual Reality (VR) technology as an assessment tool for cognitive domains. One of the essential advantages of transforming tests in an immersive virtual environment is the possibility of automatically calculating the test's score, a time-consuming process under natural conditions. Although the characteristics of VR can deliver different degrees of immersion in a virtual environment, the sense of presence could jeopardize the evolution of these practices. The sense of presence results from a complex interaction between human, contextual factors, and the VR environment. The present study has two aims: firstly, it contributes to the validation of a virtual version of the naturalistic action test (i.e., virtual reality action test); second, it aims to evaluate the role of sense of presence as a critical booster of the expression of cognitive abilities during virtual reality tasks. The study relies on healthy adults tested in virtual and real conditions in a cross-over research design. The study's results support the validity of the virtual reality action test. Furthermore, two structural equation models are tested to comprehend the role of sense of presence as a moderator in the relationship between cognitive abilities and virtual task performance.

Capturing cognitive changes in multiple sclerosis by performance-based functional and virtual reality assessments

Cognitive impairment (CI) has been recognized as one of the core multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms that profoundly impact lives of people with MS (PwMS). Clinical trials have begun to focus on cognition as a primary or secondary outcome, but translating improvements in cognitive testing scores to functioning in the real world is difficult. Performance-based functional assessments and virtual reality (VR) assessments, which incorporate real-world challenges, have been proposed as a way to better assess functional cognition (i.e., cognitive performance and its impact on real-life cognitive functioning of PwMS) and could address the difficulty in evaluating the impact of a treatment on real-world functioning. In this narrative review, we identify and summarize some of the promising recent research applications of performance-based functional assessments and VR tools to assess functional cognition in MS. Overall, most of the studies suggest that functional and VR assessments can detect cognitive differences between people with and without MS and between PwMS with and without CI. Furthermore, performance on some of the functional and VR assessments was associated with performance on standard cognitive assessments. However, developing any guidelines on how to implement these assessments in clinical practice is difficult because of the relatively small sample size across these studies. Performance-based functional and VR assessments represent an innovative approach to increasing sensitivity of how cognitive impairments/abilities present in the daily life of PwMS. More studies, with a larger sample size, robust research methods, and pre- and post-treatment assessments, are warranted to validate relevant, accessible functional and VR assessments before implementing these assessment approaches in clinical practice.

Application of Real and Virtual Radial Arm Maze Task in Human

Virtual Reality (VR) emerges as a promising technology capable of creating different scenarios in which the body, environment, and brain are closely related, proving enhancements in the diagnosis and treatment of several spatial memory deficits. In recent years, human spatial navigation has increasingly been studied in interactive virtual environments. However, navigational tasks are still not completely adapted in immersive 3D VR systems. We stipulate that an immersive Radial Arm Maze (RAM) is an excellent instrument, allowing the participants to be physically active within the maze exactly as in the walking RAM version in reality modality. RAM is a behavioral ecological task that allows the analyses of different facets of spatial memory, distinguishing declarative components from procedural ones. In addition to describing the characteristics of RAM, we will also analyze studies in which RAM has been used in virtual modality to provide suggestions into RAM building in immersive modality.

The goal-control model: An integrated neuropsychological framework to explain impaired performance of everyday activities

OBJECTIVE

This review describes the relatively small body of neuropsychological and cognitive research conducted over the past 100 years focused on theoretical models explaining the neurocognitive processes that support everyday functioning and the breakdown of functional abilities in the face of neurological damage or disease.

METHOD

The historical roots of the theories of everyday activities based on direct observation of behavior in neurology and diary reports of everyday errors in cognitive psychology are presented, followed by a review of the empirical findings and resulting theoretical conceptualizations from case studies and group studies of various clinical populations in neuropsychology.

RESULTS

We conclude with a new framework (the goal-control model) that integrates the most recent empirical findings in neuropsychology with mechanisms proposed by cognitive models.

CONCLUSIONS

The goal-control model offers empirically supported solutions to understanding and predicting functioning in the real world. This new model generates testable predictions for future research and provides guidance for clinical assessment and interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).