Cross-disciplinary study of the neural basis of rehabilitation outcomes with virtual reality: a preliminary investigation

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly gaining traction as an innovative solution to enhance rehabilitation outcomes by providing a conducive environment for engaging and customizable physical activity. To harness the benefits of such technologies, it is imperative to understand their interaction at the neural level. Therefore, as a first step, we utilized Electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of the brain in young adults with and without VR immersion. Five healthy young adults (4 males) performed boxing exercises guided by either a 3D VR-based game or an instructional video displayed on a 2D computer screen. A 64-channel EEG was recorded during 3 graded task intensity levels: (i) rest, (ii) moderate, and (iii) advanced. We calculated the mean power spectral density in the 20-100 Hz range as a proxy to the level of activation for each EEG channel. Median cortical activation in each pre-frontal, frontal, parietal, and occipital region increased in proportion to task intensity, both with and without VR. The overall cortical activation was higher with VR versus instructional video for advanced-intensity tasks (p<0.001). Higher cortical activation indicates an underlying ion flow gradient for synaptic transmission, suggesting some neuroplastic changes during VR immersion. In this presentation, we will cover the implications of emerging results from the ongoing pilot randomized crossover study. We will discuss the rational for methodologies that combine VR headsets and EEG and our choice of outcome measures. This line of research holds significant potential to explain the effectiveness of VR and facilitate rehabilitation research and clinical translation.