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Exploring emotional-modulation of visually evoked postural responses through virtual reality
Emma I Nielsen1, Taylor W Cleworth2, Mark G Carpenter3
1School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Neuroscience Letters
|March 25, 2022
Summary
This study used virtual reality to investigate how virtual postural threat affects balance control. While virtual reality successfully elicited visual evoked postural responses (VEPRs), threat did not significantly alter visual balance control.
Area of Science:
- Human movement science
- Neuroscience
- Virtual reality applications
Background:
- Postural threat influences proprioceptive and vestibular input for balance.
- Visual system contributions to balance are critical but less understood under threat.
- Virtual reality (VR) offers a novel method to study these effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- Assess the feasibility of eliciting visual evoked postural responses (VEPRs) with VR.
- Examine the impact of virtual postural threat on visual balance control.
- Investigate emotional and physiological arousal changes under virtual threat.
Main Methods:
- Thirty-six healthy adults used VR head-mounted displays.
- Participants experienced visual stimuli at ground level (LOW threat) and virtual 7m elevation (HIGH threat).
- Visual evoked postural responses (VEPRs) were measured under both conditions.
Main Results:
- VEPRs were successfully elicited in both low and high threat conditions.
- Participants showed increased physiological arousal and altered emotional states at virtual elevated heights.
- Despite stimulus coherence, VEPRs were not significantly modulated by virtual postural threat.
Conclusions:
- VR head-mounted displays are feasible for studying visual balance control.
- Virtual postural threat did not significantly alter visual control of balance in this study.
- Future research can explore emotional influences on visual balance using VR.
