Stress can have a negative impact on our lives. It can result in physical symptoms such as headaches, digestive problems, and sleep disturbances. It can also lead to psychological and emotional problems such as confusion, anxiety, and depression.
Everyone understands that exercise has both physical and psychological benefits. According to a new study, virtual reality exercise has similar effects, implying that those with limited mobility may be able to improve their mental well-being. Previous research has shown that virtual training has immediate cognitive and neural benefits. A new study, based on those findings, suggests that a similar virtual training can also reduce psychosocial stress and anxiety.
Scientists from Tohoku University’s Smart-Aging Research Center (IDAC) published their findings in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
While a moderate amount of stress may be beneficial, repeated and increased stress can be harmful to our health. This type of virtual training represents a new frontier, particularly in countries with high performance demands and an aging population, such as Japan.
Professor Dalila Burin
A psychosocial stressor is a situation in one’s life that causes an unusual or intense level of stress, which may contribute to the development or aggravation of a mental disorder, illness, or maladaptive behavior. Divorce, the death of a child, prolonged illness, an unwanted change of residence, a natural disaster, or a highly competitive work situation are all examples of psychosocial stressors.
Physical activity improves our overall health. However, for some people, such as neurological patients, people suffering from cardiovascular disease, and hospitalized patients, physical exercise is either impossible or dangerous. However, similar effects can be achieved with Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR).
Despite being initially designed for entertainment, IVR has piqued the academic community’s interest due to its potential clinical applications, as it allows the user to experience a virtual world through a virtual body.
In the researchers’ previous study, they found that looking at a moving virtual body displayed in first-person perspective induces physiological changes. Heart rates increased/decreased coherently with the virtual movements, even though the young participants remained still. Consequently, acute cognitive and neural benefits occurred, just like after real physical activity.
In a followup study, the same benefits were also found on healthy elderly subjects after 20-minute sessions occurring twice a week for six weeks.
The current study investigated the effect on stress, adding another dimension to the beneficial effects of virtual training. While sitting still, young healthy subjects were exposed to virtual training presented in first-person perspective, creating the illusion of ownership over movements.
For 30 minutes, the avatar ran at 6.4 km/h. The researchers induced and assessed the psychosocial stress response before and after the virtual training by measuring salivary alpha-amylase, a critical biomarker indicating neuroendocrine stress levels. Similarly, they distributed a subjective anxiety questionnaire. The results showed that after the virtual training, there was a decreased psychosocial stress response and lower levels of anxiety, similar to what happens after physical exercise.
“Psychosocial stress represents the stress experienced in common social situations such as social judgment, rejection, and when our performances are evaluated,” says the study’s creator, Professor Dalila Burin. “While a moderate amount of stress may be beneficial, repeated and increased stress can be harmful to our health. This type of virtual training represents a new frontier, particularly in countries with high performance demands and an aging population, such as Japan.”
