Abstract
Brain functional changes could be observed in people after an experience of virtual reality (VR). The present study investigated cyber sickness and changes of brain regional activity using electroencephalogram (EEG)-based source localization, before and after a VR experience involving a smartphone-assisted head mount display. Thirty participants (mean age = 25 years old) were recruited. All were physically healthy and had no ophthalmological diseases. Their corrected vision was better than 20/20. Resting state EEG and the simulator sickness questionnaire (SSQ) were measured before and after the VR experience. Source activity of each frequency band was calculated using the sLORETA program. After the VR experience, the SSQ total score and sub scores (nausea, oculomotor symptoms, and disorientation) were significantly increased, and brain source activations were significantly increased: alpha1 activity in the cuneus and alpha2 activity in the cuneus and posterior cingulate gyrus (PCG). The change of SSQ score (after–before) showed significant negative correlation with the change of PCG activation (after–before) in the alpha2 band. The study demonstrated increased cyber sickness and increased alpha band power in the cuneus and PCG after the VR experience. Reduced PCG activation in alpha band may be associated with the symptom severity of cyber sickness.
Highlights
The term “virtual reality” (VR) refers to any particular environmental situation or technology that is similar to reality, but is created by a computer
We found significant changes in psychophysiological and brain activation subscale scores were significantly increased following the VR exposure using a smartphone-assisted head mount displays (HMDs)
Alpha1 activity showed a robust increase in the cuneus, while alpha2 activity increased in after the VR experience
Summary
The term “virtual reality” (VR) refers to any particular environmental situation or technology that is similar to reality, but is created by a computer. In a study about brain regional activity, the insula regions of the alpha and theta bands were more highly activated while participants navigated using VR than when they watched a video from a desktop monitor or a high resolution power wall screen [15]. Virtual navigation has been related to increased activation of the hippocampus, parahippocampus, and posterior parietal cortex compared to non-navigational control tasks [18,19,20,21,22,23] These studies showed inconsistent results in frequency bands and regions of brain activation due to differences in 3D video clips presented by various 3D TVs or screens. No previous studies have explored psychophysiological alterations after VR experiences involving smartphone-assisted HMDs. In the present explorative study, we used EEG-based source localization to evaluate cyber sickness and changes in brain regional activation after the VR exposure
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