IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2020 Dec;28(12):3074-3082. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2020.3039829. Epub 2021 Jan 28.
Virtual reality (VR) can be used to create environments that are not possible in the real-world. Producing movements in VR holds enormous promise for rehabilitation and offers a platform from which to understand the neural control of movement. However, no study has examined the impact of a 3D fully immersive head-mounted display (HMD) VR system on the integrity of neural data. We assessed the quality of 64-channel EEG data with and without HMD VR during rest and during a full-body reaching task. We compared resting EEG while subjects completed three conditions: No HMD (EEG-only), HMD powered off (VR-off), and HMD powered on (VR-on). Within the same session, EEG were collected while subjects completed full-body reaching movements in two conditions (EEG-only, VR-on). During rest, no significant differences in data quality and power spectrum were observed between EEG-only, VR-off, and VR-on conditions. During reaching movements, the proportion of components attributed to the brain was greater in the EEG-only condition compared to the VR-on condition. Despite this difference, neural oscillations in source space were not significantly different between conditions, with both conditions associated with decreases in alpha and beta power in sensorimotor cortex during movements. Our findings demonstrate that the integrity of EEG data can be maintained while individuals execute full-body reaching movements within an immersive 3D VR environment. Clinical impact: Integrating VR and EEG is a viable approach to understanding the cortical processes of movement. Simultaneously recording movement and brain activity in combination with VR provides the foundation for neurobiologically informed rehabilitation therapies.
虚拟现实（VR）可用于创建在现实世界中不可能实现的环境。在 VR 中产生运动对于康复具有巨大的潜力，并为理解运动的神经控制提供了一个平台。然而，尚无研究探讨 3D 全沉浸式头戴式显示器（HMD）VR 系统对神经数据完整性的影响。我们评估了在休息和全身伸展任务期间，有无 HMD VR 情况下 64 通道 EEG 数据的质量。我们比较了在三种情况下进行 HMD 实验时的静息 EEG：无 HMD（仅 EEG）、HMD 关闭（VR 关闭）和 HMD 开启（VR 开启）。在同一实验中，在两种情况下（仅 EEG、VR 开启）进行全身伸展运动时收集 EEG。在静息时，仅 EEG、VR 关闭和 VR 开启条件之间在数据质量和功率谱方面未观察到显著差异。在伸展运动时，与 VR 开启条件相比，仅 EEG 条件下归因于大脑的分量比例更大。尽管存在这种差异，但源空间中的神经振荡在条件之间没有明显差异，两种条件都与运动期间感觉运动皮层中的 alpha 和 beta 功率降低有关。我们的发现表明，当个体在沉浸式 3D VR 环境中执行全身伸展运动时，EEG 数据的完整性可以保持。临床影响：将 VR 和 EEG 相结合是理解运动皮质过程的可行方法。同时记录运动和大脑活动与 VR 相结合为神经生物学信息指导的康复治疗提供了基础。
