Training Virtually Can Reduce Psychosocial Stress, Anxiety

Previous research has described how virtual training produces acute cognitive and neural benefits. Building on those results, a new study suggests that a similar virtual training can also reduce psychosocial stress and anxiety.

Researchers from Tohoku University's Smart-Aging Research Center (IDAC) published their findings in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. We all know that physical exercise benefits our overall well-being. But for some - such as neurological patients, people suffering from cardiovascular disease, and hospitalized patients - physical exercise is not feasible, or even too dangerous. However, similar effects may be brought about using Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR). Despite initially designed for entertainment, Immersive Virtual Reality has attracted interest from the academic community because of its potential use for clinical purposes, since it allows the user to experience a virtual world through a virtual body.

In the current study, the researchers explored the effect on stress, adding another level to the beneficial effects of virtual training. Young healthy subjects, while sitting still, experienced a virtual training displayed from the first-person perspective, creating the illusion of ownership over movements. The avatar ran at 6.4 km/h for 30 minutes. Before and after the virtual training, the researchers induced and assessed the psychosocial stress response by measuring the salivary alpha-amylase ,which is a crucial biomarker indicating the levels of neuroendocrine stress. The results showed a decreased psychosocial stress response and lower levels of anxiety after the virtual training, comparable to what happens after real exercise.