Physiological Response of Imagery Running with or without an Avatar in 3D Virtual Reality: A Preliminary Study

OBJECTIVES The present study is aimed at observing the physiological response imagery running with an avatar in 3D virtual reality (VR) and to explore the differences in physiological responses between imagery running with and without an avatar in 3D VR.METHODS We randomly assigned 32 healthy adults to either a group with Avatar (n = 19) or a group without (n = 13). The group with avatar performed imagery exercise with an avatar in 3D VR and the group without Avatar performed it without an avatar in 3D VR. Both groups were instructed to mentally imagine performing running in VR without executing actual physical movements. We recorded electro-physiological data before, during, and after the 20-min intervention. We also measured the participants’ level of presence and intensity of experienced cybersickness.RESULTS In the group with Avatar, all physiological responses increased from the resting to the intervention period. The group with Avatar also showed a higher level of presence and fewer cybersickness symptoms than the group without Avatar.CONCLUSIONS The results suggest imagery running with an avatar in 3D VR might be effective as an alternative exercise.

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The effect of virtual reality-based balance training on motor learning and postural control in healthy adults: a randomized preliminary study

BioMedical Engineering OnLine ◽

10.1186/s12938-018-0550-0 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Thunyanoot Prasertsakul ◽

Panya Kaimuk ◽

Wipawee Chinjenpradit ◽

Weerawat Limroongreungrat ◽

Warakorn Charoensuk

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Motor Learning ◽

Postural Control ◽

Balance Training ◽

Healthy Adults ◽

Preliminary Study

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An investigation of immersiveness in virtual reality exposure using physiological data

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e705452011-010 ◽

2002 ◽

Author(s):

D. P. Jang ◽

B. K. Wiederhold ◽

S. B. McGehee ◽

E. Durso ◽

M. D. Wiederhold ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Physiological Data ◽

Virtual Reality Exposure

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A Virtual Reality Version of the Trier Social Stress Test: A Pilot Study

Presence Teleoperators & Virtual Environments ◽

10.1162/pres_a_00052 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 325-336 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Mattias Wallergård ◽

Peter Jönsson ◽

Gerd Johansson ◽

Björn Karlson

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Stress Response ◽

Pilot Study ◽

Social Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Physiological Data ◽

Virtual Humans ◽

Arithmetic Task

One of the most common methods of inducing stress in the laboratory in order to examine the stress response in healthy and clinical populations is the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Briefly, the participant is asked to deliver a speech and to perform an arithmetic task in front of an evaluating committee. The committee, consisting of three trained actors, does not respond emotionally during the test, which makes the situation very stressful for the participant. One disadvantage of the TSST is that it can be difficult to hold the experimental conditions constant. In particular, it may be difficult for actors to hold their acting constant across all sessions. Furthermore, there are several practical problems and costs associated with hiring professional actors. A computerized version of the TSST using virtual humans could be a way to avoid these problems provided that it is able to induce a stress response similar to the one of the original TSST. The purpose of the present pilot study was therefore to investigate the stress response to a virtual reality (VR) version of the TSST visualized using an immersive VR system (VR-TSST). Seven healthy males with an average age of 24 years (range: 23–26 years) performed the VR-TSST. This included delivering a speech and performing an arithmetic task in front of an evaluating committee consisting of three virtual humans. The VR equipment was a CAVE equipped with stereoscopy and head tracking. ECG and respiration were recorded as well as the participant's behavior and comments. Afterward, a semi-structured interview was carried out. In general, the subjective and physiological data from the experiment indicated that the VR version of the TSST induced a stress response in the seven participants. In particular, the peak increase in heart rate was close to rates observed in studies using the traditional TSST with real actors. These results suggest that virtual humans visualized with an immersive VR system can be used to induce stress under laboratory conditions.

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A Preliminary Study on the Feasibility of Using a Virtual Reality Cognitive Training Application for Remote Detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment

Journal of Alzheimer s Disease ◽

10.3233/jad-160518 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 56 (2) ◽

pp. 619-627 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Stelios Zygouris ◽

Konstantinos Ntovas ◽

Dimitrios Giakoumis ◽

Konstantinos Votis ◽

Stefanos Doumpoulakis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Cognitive Training ◽

Remote Detection ◽

Preliminary Study

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Transcriptional analysis of the response of C. elegans to ethanol exposure

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-90282-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mark G. Sterken ◽

Marijke H. van Wijk ◽

Elizabeth C. Quamme ◽

Joost A. G. Riksen ◽

Lucinda Carnell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Physiological Response ◽

Physiological Responses ◽

Ethanol Exposure ◽

Transcriptional Analysis ◽

Transcriptional Responses ◽

Genetic Pathways ◽

C Elegans ◽

Chronic Ethanol Consumption ◽

Transcriptional Changes

AbstractEthanol-induced transcriptional changes underlie important physiological responses to ethanol that are likely to contribute to the addictive properties of the drug. We examined the transcriptional responses of Caenorhabditis elegans across a timecourse of ethanol exposure, between 30 min and 8 h, to determine what genes and genetic pathways are regulated in response to ethanol in this model. We found that short exposures to ethanol (up to 2 h) induced expression of metabolic enzymes involved in metabolizing ethanol and retinol, while longer exposure (8 h) had much more profound effects on the transcriptome. Several genes that are known to be involved in the physiological response to ethanol, including direct ethanol targets, were regulated at 8 h of exposure. This longer exposure to ethanol also resulted in the regulation of genes involved in cilia function, which is consistent with an important role for the effects of ethanol on cilia in the deleterious effects of chronic ethanol consumption in humans. Finally, we found that food deprivation for an 8-h period induced gene expression changes that were somewhat ameliorated by the presence of ethanol, supporting previous observations that worms can use ethanol as a calorie source.

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Behavioural and physiological response to frustration in autistic youth: associations with irritability

Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders ◽

10.1186/s11689-021-09374-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Virginia Carter Leno ◽

Georgia Forth ◽

Susie Chandler ◽

Philippa White ◽

Isabel Yorke ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physiological Response ◽

Objective Measure ◽

Parent Report ◽

Population Based ◽

Sensitivity Analyses ◽

Reactivity Index ◽

Physiological Data ◽

Experimental Task ◽

Incident Rate ◽

Underlying Mechanisms

Abstract Background Irritability is a common and impairing occurrence in autistic youth, yet the underlying mechanisms are not well-known. In typically developing populations, differences in frustration response have been suggested as important driver of the behavioural symptoms of irritability. Research exploring the role of frustration response as a risk factor for irritability in autistic populations is limited and often uses parent report or observer ratings; objective measures of frustration response appropriate for use in autistic populations are required to advance the field. Methods In the current study, fifty-two autistic adolescents aged 13–17 years from a population-based longitudinal study completed an experimental task designed to induce frustration through exposure to periods of unexpected delay. Behavioural (number of button presses) and physiological (heart rate; HR) metrics were collected during delay periods. Irritability was measured using the parent-rated Affective Reactivity Index (ARI). Analyses used mixed-level models to test whether irritability was associated with different slopes of behavioural and physiological response to experimentally induced frustration during the task. Age and baseline HR (for the physiological data only) were included as covariates. Results Analyses showed a marginal association between irritability and the slope of behavioural response (incident rate ratio (IRR) =.98, p=.06), and a significant association with the slope of physiological response (b=−.10, p=.04); higher levels of irritability were associated with a dampened behavioural and physiological response, as indicated by flatter slopes of change over the course of the task. The pattern of results largely remained in sensitivity analyses, although the association with physiological response became non-significant when adjusting for IQ, autism symptom severity, and medication use (b=−.10, p=.10). Conclusions Results suggest that the current experimental task may be a useful objective measure of frustration response for use with autistic populations, and that a non-adaptive response to frustration may be one biological mechanism underpinning irritability in autistic youth. This may represent an important target for future intervention studies.

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Mapping the urban environment using real-time physiological monitoring

International Journal of Architectural Research Archnet-IJAR ◽

10.1108/arch-02-2021-0041 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Dimitra Dritsa ◽

Nimish Biloria

Keyword(s):

Data Collection ◽

Conceptual Model ◽

Urban Environment ◽

Physiological Responses ◽

Physiological Data ◽

Contextual Data ◽

Content Type ◽

The Relationship ◽

The City ◽

Urban Stress

PurposeThis paper presents a critical review of studies which map the urban environment using continuous physiological data collection. A conceptual model is consequently presented for mitigating urban stress at the city and the user level.Design/methodology/approachThe study reviews relevant publications, examining the tools used for data collection and the methods used for data analysis and data fusion. The relationship between urban features and physiological responses is also examined.FindingsThe review showed that the continuous monitoring of physiological data in the urban environment can be used for location-aware stress detection and urban emotion mapping. The combination of physiological and contextual data helps researchers understand how the urban environment affects the human body. The review indicated a relationship between some urban features (green, land use, traffic, isovist parameters) and physiological responses, though more research is needed to solidify the existence of the identified links. The review also identified many theoretical, methodological and practical issues which hinder further research in this area.Originality/valueWhile there is large potential in this field, there has been no review of studies which map continuously physiological data in the urban environment. This study covers this gap and introduces a novel conceptual model for mitigating urban stress.

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