A semi-immersive virtual reality incremental swing balance task activates prefrontal cortex: a functional...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Rehabilitation Science
• Human Movement Science

Background:

• Previous studies linked the prefrontal cortex (PFC) to postural balance maintenance after perturbations.
• No prior research investigated PFC hemodynamic responses during virtual reality (VR) tasks for neurorehabilitation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess PFC oxygenation response using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during incremental and control swing balance tasks (ISBT and CSBT) in a VR environment.
• To test hypotheses regarding bilateral PFC activation with increasing task difficulty and potential right-hemisphere dominance.

Main Methods:

• 16 healthy males performed ISBT and CSBT in a semi-immersive VR setting.
• fNIRS measured PFC oxygenation (O2Hb, HHb) during balance tasks with varying difficulty.
• Center of Mass (COM) errors and return time were recorded.

Main Results:

• PFC oxygenation (O2Hb) increased progressively with ISBT difficulty, while deoxygenated hemoglobin (HHb) showed less consistent changes.
• Task errors and return time increased with ISBT difficulty, indicating greater challenge.
• CSBT resulted in lower PFC oxygenation changes compared to ISBT, and no right-hemispheric lateralization was observed.

Conclusions:

• The prefrontal cortex (PFC) shows increased oxygenation during attention-demanding virtual reality balance tasks.
• The ISBT in VR is a promising tool for assessing PFC function in balance and could be valuable for neurorehabilitation.
• Findings support the PFC's role in allocating attentional resources for postural control.