Neuroendocrine Response and State Anxiety Due to Psychosocial Stress Decrease after a Training with Subject's Own...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Virtual Reality

Background:

• First-person perspective virtual reality induces body ownership and agency illusions.
• Virtual movement can elicit physiological and cognitive responses comparable to actual movement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if virtual reality training can induce neuroendocrine effects, specifically reducing psychosocial stress.
• To compare the stress response between first-person and third-person virtual reality perspectives.

Main Methods:

• 26 healthy adults viewed a virtual avatar running from a first-person perspective (experimental).
• 26 healthy adults viewed a virtual avatar running from a third-person perspective (control).
• Salivary alpha-amylase and state anxiety were measured before and after the 30-minute virtual session.

Main Results:

• The experimental group showed a significant decrease in salivary alpha-amylase, a stress biomarker.
• The experimental group reported a significant decrease in subjective state anxiety.
• No significant difference in heart rate was observed between groups.

Conclusions:

• Virtual reality immersion from a first-person perspective can trigger physiological changes that reduce the neuroendocrine stress response.
• The illusion of embodiment in virtual reality may initiate a cascade leading to stress reduction.
• Virtual training shows potential as a method to mitigate psychosocial stress.