Center for Traumatic Brain Injury Research, Kessler Foundation, East Hanover, NJ, USA; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rutgers-NJ Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA.
Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Physiol Behav. 2022 Jun 1;250:113779. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.113779. Epub 2022 Mar 11.
To determine whether increased visual perceptual load (PL) within an immersive virtual environment may help explain previously shown pain-relieving effects of virtual reality (VR) during high intensity cycling.
Using a within-subjects design, participants cycled at a perceptually "hard" intensity for 10 min on three separate occasions. The first session did not use VR (i.e., no perceptual load - NPL). Subsequent sessions employed VR during cycling with either a low or high perceptual load (LPL or HPL). Quadriceps pain intensity (PI) was reported by participants throughout cycling.
Data were analyzed for 43 healthy participants (20 females, mean age 21 [SD 1.4]). For PI, ANOVA showed there were significant main effects of condition (F = 13.458, df =1.579, 66.334, p<0.001) and time (F = 113.045, df =1.618, 227.683, p<0.001). At every time point, t-tests revealed mean PI was significantly lower in the NPL than in the LPL condition (t(42)=4.737, p<0.001, d = 0.472) and HPL condition (t(42)=3.380, p = 0.002, d = 0.391). Dependent t-tests showed that more work (kilojoules) was performed during the LPL condition than the NPL (t(42)=2.992, p = 0.005) and HPL (t(42)=5.810, p<0.001) conditions.
Compared to a traditional 10-minute bout of cycle ergometry (NPL), individuals who cycled in the LPL condition chose to exercise at a higher intensity despite greater PI. Those who cycled in the HPL condition did not change their exercise intensity, but did report higher PI, possibly, because of the greater mental effort/energy requirement.
确定沉浸式虚拟环境中增加视觉感知负荷（PL）是否有助于解释先前虚拟现实（VR）在高强度骑行过程中的镇痛作用。
使用被试内设计，参与者在三种不同情况下以感知上“困难”的强度进行了 10 分钟的骑行。第一个阶段不使用 VR（即无感知负荷-NPL）。随后的阶段在骑行时使用低或高感知负荷（LPL 或 HPL）的 VR。参与者在整个骑行过程中报告股四头肌疼痛强度（PI）。
对 43 名健康参与者（20 名女性，平均年龄 21[SD 1.4]）进行数据分析。对于 PI，方差分析显示条件（F=13.458，df=1.579，66.334，p<0.001）和时间（F=113.045，df=1.618，227.683，p<0.001）有显著的主效应。在每个时间点，t 检验显示 NPL 时的平均 PI 显著低于 LPL 条件（t（42）=4.737，p<0.001，d=0.472）和 HPL 条件（t（42）=3.380，p=0.002，d=0.391）。依赖 t 检验显示，LPL 条件下的工作量（千焦耳）大于 NPL 条件（t（42）=2.992，p=0.005）和 HPL 条件（t（42）=5.810，p<0.001）。
与传统的 10 分钟自行车测力计（NPL）相比，尽管 PI 较高，在 LPL 条件下骑行的个体选择以更高的强度进行锻炼。在 HPL 条件下骑行的人并没有改变他们的运动强度，但他们确实报告了更高的 PI，可能是因为需要更多的精神努力/能量。
