Functional brain network analysis of VR motion sickness

This study aims to explore the neural impact of virtual reality (VR) motion sickness on individuals from the perspective of brain functional networks, analyze the relationship between changes in Electroencephalogram (EEG) frequency bands and VR motion sickness, and provide a new perspective for evaluating the neural excitation mechanism of VR motion sickness. Twenty-six subjects were grouped based on their sensitivity to VR by a subjective evaluation scale. EEG signals were recorded before and after VR experiment. Functional brain networks were constructed and the changes in perspective of network topological characteristic parameters were analyzed. Participants in the sensitive group exhibited increased clustering coefficients and local efficiencies in the Delta band, as well as increased characteristic path lengths in the Alpha band. Conversely, subjects in the insensitive group exhibited no substantial alterations in brain network parameters before and after the VR experiment, and no significant changes in other frequency bands. The result indicate that alterations in the Delta and Alpha frequency bands play a crucial role in the mechanism of VR-induced motion sickness. These changes reflect an augmentation of the brain's local information processing capacity in response to VR motion sickness, as well as modifications in the efficiency of the global network in processing visual stimuli and modulating attention. These findings provide theoretical underpinnings for the neurological effects of VR motion sickness and establish a foundational framework for future research.