Is Social Training Delivered with a Head-Mounted Display Suitable for Patients with Hereditary Ataxia?

Overview

Journal Brain Sci

Publisher MDPI

Date 2023 Jul 29

PMID 37508949

Authors

Giorgia Malerba

Silvia Bellazzecca

Cosimo Urgesi

Niccolo Butti

Maria Grazia DAngelo

Eleonora Diella

Emilia Biffi

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Social cognition is fundamental in everyday life to understand "others' behavior", which is a key feature of social abilities. Previous studies demonstrated the efficacy of a rehabilitative intervention in semi-immersive virtual reality (VR) controlled by whole-body motion to improve the ability of patients with cerebellar disorders to predict others' intentions (VR-SPIRIT). Patients with severe ataxia that have difficulties at multiple levels of social processing could benefit from this intervention in terms of improving their social prediction skills, but they may have difficulties in controlling VR with whole-body movements. Therefore, we implemented VR-SPIRIT on a wearable, affordable, and easy-to-use technology, such as the Oculus Quest, a head-mounted display. The aim of this work was to evaluate the usability and tolerability of this VR application. We recruited 10 patients (37.7 ± 14.8 years old, seven males) with different types of hereditary ataxia who performed a single VR-SPIRIT session using the Oculus Quest viewer. After the session, patients answered a series of questionnaires to investigate the overall usability of the system and its potential effects in terms of cyber sickness. The preliminary results demonstrated system usability and tolerability. Indeed, only three patients did not complete the session due to different problems (dizziness, nausea, and boredom). In future studies, more patients will be enrolled to assess the effectiveness of the application, paving the way for the implementation of social training that can also be delivered at home.

Citing Articles

Feasibility and Efficacy of a Virtual Reality Social Prediction Training in Children and Young Adults with Congenital Cerebellar Malformations.

Butti N, Biffi E, Romaniello R, Finisguerra A, Valente E, Strazzer S J Autism Dev Disord. 2024; .

PMID: 38700776 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-024-06349-8.

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