Virtual reality in the service of balance?

Doing rehabilitation work in an immersive virtual reality environment can help improve balance and, for example, prevent falls in older people.

Immersive Virtual Reality is an innovative technology that is changing the way we interact with the digital world. It allows users to immerse themselves in artificial 3D environments, creating a full sensory experience that goes beyond simple traditional 2D interfaces.

Virtual reality interface devices have been applied in various fields, including entertainment, military defense, fitness, and rehabilitation. The recent integration of virtual reality into the field of rehabilitation makes it particularly possible to create Stimulating environments adapted to patients Which leads to significantly improved functional and physical capabilities, which is accompanied by physiological adaptations at the level of the nervous system.

Contributing to motor rehabilitation after stroke

In particular, virtual reality can contribute to motor rehabilitation after stroke using so-called mirror therapy.

there Mirror therapy It is a rehabilitation technique that traditionally uses a mirror to create the optical illusion of normal movement of a limb. Concretely, the patient is asked to make simple movements with both arms at the same time. The affected arm is hidden and its image is replaced with the image of the healthy arm reflected in the mirror.

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VR mirror therapy is a modern version of this method where patients see a virtual representation of their affected limb moving in sync with the movements of the healthy limb.

The illusion of proper functioning sends positive visual feedback to the brain, which may help relieve pain, reduce swelling, and improve motor function and coordination. This treatment is based on the brain's neuroplasticity, that is, its ability to create new neural circuits Restoration of sensory and motor functions.

Virtual: Interact with the kitchen, manipulate objects…

A Another example of the use of virtual reality As part of motor rehabilitation it consists of performing exercises with the affected limb to reach and grasp objects in a virtual environment, interacting with a virtual kitchen or handling objects.

These motor rehabilitation exercises aim to improve motor control, coordination and functional abilities, by actively engaging the affected limb in specific actions.

Sensory system and posture

In recent years, scientific research has focused particularly on the potential contributions of virtual reality to interventions aimed at improving postural balance, i.e. our ability to maintain an upright posture. This decreased balance ability increases the risk of falling during our daily activities.

Balance control depends on the integration of sensory information, which is mainly provided by visual, vestibular (inner ear) and inner ear hearing. Sensitivity (Sense of body position and movements).

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numerous Theories and models Explain the mechanisms by which the nervous system manages this different information. The main model assumes that information sent by sensory systems is integrated and weighted according to:

• The importance of the information generated by each system;

• Characteristics of the task situation.

• of the context in which the task is being performed.

During this process, the sensory system is assigned a heavy weight to provide the most relevant information, and a lower weight to other sensory systems.

Impairment of this sensory weighing process contributes to the increased risk of falls observed in healthy elderly subjects as well as in patients with neurological disorders.

Travel simulation using virtual reality

In this context, virtual reality can create real sensory challenges that force the nervous system to adapt by improving balance processes.

Based on this hypothesis, we conducted a procedure He studies With 55 young people to understand what repeated exposure to a virtual environment that simulates moving forward or backward can cause.

The experimental approach was based on the fact that virtual reality, by simulating movement through a visual stimulus, would create a conflict with other sensory sources that do not detect movement, forcing the nervous system to adjust balance control.

A simple analogy for this experiential context can be found in a situation we have all already experienced: the situation in which the train next to us left while we were sitting on a stationary train. Our first impression indicates that our train has started (information provided by our vision). Then we realize that it is not our train that is moving, but the neighboring train.

This awareness comes from confronting visual information with other sensory information. Therefore, we notice that sources of information are preferred to manage this sensory conflict in order to reflect the real situation.

Virtual to improve balance in reality

The results of our study highlight an improvement in balance control after VR exposure that was observed not only in the virtual environment in which participants were trained but also in the real environment.

This point is essential because it reinforces the idea that virtual reality can be a tool to improve balance abilities in daily activities.

Indeed, this study shows that improvement in balance after VR training is accompanied by a modification in sensorimotor processes of stance control, in particular by reducing the importance of visual information. This results in less use of visual information to control postural sway.

Tomorrow, using virtual reality to prevent falls?

However, aging leads to… Increased use of visual information to control balanceThis limits the sensory weighting process described above.

The results of this study show that virtual reality can limit or even reverse this overuse of visual information, thus reducing the risk of falls.

This approach could also be used with other populations, such as stroke patients, as it has been shown that VR can be used with these patients. To work on their balance.

In conclusion, this study, together with others, tends to show that VR can play a role in the prevention and rehabilitation of balance problems, going beyond the fun aspect to which it is often limited.

Furthermore, many other applications of VR are developing in biomedicine, some of which are revolutionizing methods that have been in place for decades.