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Immersive Virtual Reality in Cognitive Rehabilitation: A systematic Review

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Published: Jul 7, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/healthresj.28872
Keywords:
Immersive Virtual Reality Rehabilitation Cognitive Functions
Akyllina Despoti
Clinical Ergospirometry, Exercise and Rehabilitation Laboratory, 1st Intensive Care Department, School of Medicine, NKUA
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0614-2723
Eleftherios Karatzanos
Clinical Ergospirometry, Exercise and Rehabilitation Laboratory, 1st Intensive Care Department, School of Medicine, NKUA
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6735-4183
Irini Patsaki
Clinical Ergospirometry, Exercise and Rehabilitation Laboratory, 1st Intensive Care Department, School of Medicine, NKUA
Dimitra Tzoumi
Clinical Ergospirometry, Exercise and Rehabilitation Laboratory, 1st Intensive Care Department, School of Medicine, NKUA
Georgia Roussou
Clinical Ergospirometry, Exercise and Rehabilitation Laboratory, 1st Intensive Care Department, School of Medicine, NKUA
Nikolaos Leventakis
Clinical Ergospirometry, Exercise and Rehabilitation Laboratory, 1st Intensive Care Department, School of Medicine, NKUA
Argyro Papathanasiou
Higher School of Fine Arts, Faculty of Film, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Serafim Nanas
Clinical Ergospirometry, Exercise and Rehabilitation Laboratory, 1st Intensive Care Department, School of Medicine, NKUA
Nefeli Dimitriadi
Higher School of Fine Arts, Faculty of Film, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Abstract

Background: Virtual Reality (VR) is a new technology used more and more in clinical trial.


Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of immersive VR as a rehabilitation approach of cognitive functions.


Method and Material: A systematic literature review was conducted in the electronic databases of PubMed, Cochrane, OTseeker and PsycINFO for articles published until August 2021. The main search terms were "immersive virtual reality," and "cognitive rehabilitation". The research was strictly limited in immersive technologies and adult patients suffering from neurological disorder or a traumatic injury or elderly with cognitive decline, and no reviews are included. Totally, 16 citations reviewed.


Results: All intervention studies reported improvements either in cognitive functions or in stress management and relaxation. In particular, most of the studies demonstrated improvement in attention (N=6) but also in executive functions (N=3), in memory (N=5) and in navigation skills (N=1). Regarding safety and feasibility, most of the participants in the studies completed successfully the tasks and did not report stimulation sickness.


Conclusions: The available limited data indicate that immersive VR environments can a) be feasible and safe and b) have a positive impact in cognitive functions in the dynamic process of rehabilitation. Further research is warranted in large-scale longitudinal clinical trials in various patients’ groups in order to compare the effects of immersive and non-immersive VR interventions. Future studies should further investigate the long-term impact on cognitive functions in interventions using immersive VR.

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  • Systematic Reviews

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