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Virtual reality-based sensorimotor adaptation shapes subsequent spontaneous and naturalistic stimulus-driven brain
Meytal Wilf1,2, Celine Dupuis3, Davide Nardo4,5
1MySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Avenue Pierre Decker 5, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|October 26, 2022
Summary
Virtual reality prism adaptation (VRPA) reshapes brain networks, decreasing connectivity between attention and default mode networks. This VRPA training also biases visual processing of naturalistic scenes, demonstrating brain plasticity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Virtual Reality
Background:
- The brain constantly adapts to new sensorimotor experiences for proper functioning.
- Tracking behavioral plasticity and neural changes during naturalistic tasks is difficult.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate brain plasticity and functional connectivity changes following virtual reality prism adaptation (VRPA).
- To examine how VRPA influences spontaneous brain activity and visual responses to naturalistic stimuli.
Main Methods:
- Healthy participants (N=45) underwent VRPA with left/right shifts or no shift.
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) assessed resting-state and free-viewing activity before and after VRPA.
- Behavioral tests measured VRPA-induced after-effects.
Main Results:
- VRPA significantly decreased functional connectivity between attentional and default mode/fronto-parietal networks, especially in the hemisphere contralateral to the induced shift.
- Rightward VRPA specifically upregulated visual responses in the right parieto-occipital sulcus (POS).
- POS upregulation intensity correlated with the magnitude of the behavioral after-effect.
Conclusions:
- Brief VRPA induces significant changes in large-scale cortical connectivity.
- VRPA can bias visual processing of naturalistic sensory inputs, reflecting neural adaptation.
