Impact of Virtual Reality Cognitive and Motor Exercises on Brain Health

Benefits and Barriers of Using Virtual Reality in Teaching Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Although studies have been conducted using virtual reality (VR) in nursing education, evidence distinguishing the benefits and barriers of adopting VR pedagogical methods to teach undergraduate nursing students is not well-defined in nursing literature.

PURPOSE

To identify current evidence on the benefits and barriers of adopting VR as a pedagogical method in nursing education.

METHODS

A scoping review of 6 databases using PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines. Data were managed using Covidence® software. Table of Evidence illustrates the themes.

RESULTS

Seventeen articles identified 5 thematic benefits of VR (knowledge acquisition, student engagement, improved self-confidence, teaching strategy, and cost factors) and 4 barriers (physical discomfort, learning outcome challenges, challenges to integrating into curricula, and technology challenges).

CONCLUSIONS

VR is an effective teaching-learning strategy to reinforce nursing concepts and build competencies. It is not a substitute for clinical education.

A machine learning approach to evaluate the impact of virtual balance/cognitive training on fall risk in older women

Introduction

Novel technologies based on virtual reality (VR) are creating attractive virtual environments with high ecological value, used both in basic/clinical neuroscience and modern medical practice. The study aimed to evaluate the effects of VR-based training in an elderly population.

Materials and methods

The study included 36 women over the age of 60, who were randomly divided into two groups subjected to balance-strength and balance-cognitive training. The research applied both conventional clinical tests, such as (a) the Timed Up and Go test, (b) the five-times sit-to-stand test, and (c) the posturographic exam with the Romberg test with eyes open and closed. Training in both groups was conducted for 10 sessions and embraced exercises on a bicycle ergometer and exercises using non-immersive VR created by the ActivLife platform. Machine learning methods with a k-nearest neighbors classifier, which are very effective and popular, were proposed to statistically evaluate the differences in training effects in the two groups.

Results and conclusion

The study showed that training using VR brought beneficial improvement in clinical tests and changes in the pattern of posturographic trajectories were observed. An important finding of the research was a statistically significant reduction in the risk of falls in the study population. The use of virtual environments in exercise/training has great potential in promoting healthy aging and preventing balance loss and falls among seniors.

Adaptation of Postural Sway in a Standing Position during Tilted Video Viewing Using Virtual Reality: A Comparison between Younger and Older Adults

This study aimed to investigate the effects of wearing virtual reality (VR) with a head-mounted display (HMD) on body sway in younger and older adults. A standing posture with eyes open without an HMD constituted the control condition. Wearing an HMD and viewing a 30°-tilt image and a 60°-tilt image in a resting standing position were the experimental conditions. Measurements were made using a force plate. All conditions were performed three times each and included the X-axis trajectory length (mm), Y-axis trajectory length (mm), total trajectory length (mm), trajectory length per unit time (mm/s), outer peripheral area (mm2), and rectangular area (mm2). The results showed a significant interaction between generation and condition in Y-axis trajectory length (mm) and total trajectory length (mm), with an increased body center-of-gravity sway during the viewing of tilted VR images in older adults than in younger adults in both sexes. The results of this study show that body sway can be induced by visual stimulation alone with VR without movement, suggesting the possibility of providing safe and simple balance training to older adults.

Being in Virtual Reality and Its Influence on Brain Health-An Overview of Benefits, Limitations and Prospects

BACKGROUND

Dynamic technological development and its enormous impact on modern societies are posing new challenges for 21st-century neuroscience. A special place is occupied by technologies based on virtual reality (VR). VR tools have already played a significant role in both basic and clinical neuroscience due to their high accuracy, sensitivity and specificity and, above all, high ecological value.

OBJECTIVE

Being in a digital world affects the functioning of the body as a whole and its individual systems. The data obtained so far, both from experimental and modeling studies, as well as (clinical) observations, indicate their great and promising potential, but apart from the benefits, there are also losses and negative consequences for users.

METHODS

This review was conducted according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework across electronic databases (such as Web of Science Core Collection; PubMed; and Scopus, Taylor & Francis Online and Wiley Online Library) to identify beneficial effects and applications, as well as adverse impacts, especially on brain health in human neuroscience.

RESULTS

More than half of these articles were published within the last five years and represent state-of-the-art approaches and results (e.g., 54.7% in Web of Sciences and 63.4% in PubMed), with review papers accounting for approximately 16%. The results show that in addition to proposed novel devices and systems, various methods or procedures for testing, validation and standardization are presented (about 1% of articles). Also included are virtual developers and experts, (bio)(neuro)informatics specialists, neuroscientists and medical professionals.

CONCLUSIONS

VR environments allow for expanding the field of research on perception and cognitive and motor imagery, both in healthy and patient populations. In this context, research on neuroplasticity phenomena, including mirror neuron networks and the effects of applied virtual (mirror) tasks and training, is of interest in virtual prevention and neurogeriatrics, especially in neurotherapy and neurorehabilitation in basic/clinical and digital neuroscience.

Effectiveness of the Combined Use of a Brain-Machine Interface System and Virtual Reality as a Therapeutic Approach in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review

Spinal cord injury has a major impact on both the individual and society. This damage can cause permanent loss of sensorimotor functions, leading to structural and functional changes in somatotopic regions of the spinal cord. The combined use of a brain-machine interface and virtual reality offers a therapeutic alternative to be considered in the treatment of this pathology. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the combined use of virtual reality and the brain-machine interface in the treatment of spinal cord injuries. A search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, PEDro, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, Scopus, and Medline, including articles published from the beginning of each database until January 2023. Articles were selected based on strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. The Cochrane Collaboration's tool was used to assess the risk of bias and the PEDro scale and SCIRE systems were used to evaluate the methodological quality of the studies. Eleven articles were selected from a total of eighty-two. Statistically significant changes were found in the upper limb, involving improvements in shoulder and upper arm mobility, and weaker muscles were strengthened. In conclusion, most of the articles analyzed used the electroencephalogram as a measurement instrument for the assessment of various parameters, and most studies have shown improvements. Nonetheless, further research is needed with a larger sample size and long-term follow-up to establish conclusive results regarding the effect size of these interventions.