Siena Brain Investigation & Neuromodulation Lab (Si-BIN Lab), Unit of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Oto-Neuro-Tech Conjoined Lab, Policlinico Le Scotte, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Neurotherapeutics. 2023 Oct;20(6):1796-1807. doi: 10.1007/s13311-023-01437-6. Epub 2023 Sep 18.
Virtual reality (VR) applications are pervasive of everyday life, as in working, medical, and entertainment scenarios. There is yet no solution to cybersickness (CS), a disabling vestibular syndrome with nausea, dizziness, and general discomfort that most of VR users undergo, which results from an integration mismatch among visual, proprioceptive, and vestibular information. In a double-blind, controlled trial, we propose an innovative treatment for CS, consisting of online oscillatory imperceptible neuromodulation with transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) at 10 Hz, biophysically modelled to reach the vestibular cortex bilaterally. tACS significantly reduced CS nausea in 37 healthy subjects during a VR rollercoaster experience. The effect was frequency-dependent and placebo-insensitive. Subjective benefits were paralleled by galvanic skin response modulation in 25 subjects, addressing neurovegetative activity. Besides confirming the role of transcranially delivered oscillations in physiologically tuning the vestibular system function (and dysfunction), results open a new way to facilitate the use of VR in different scenarios and possibly to help treating also other vestibular dysfunctions.
虚拟现实 (VR) 应用已经普及到日常生活中，无论是在工作、医疗还是娱乐场景中。目前还没有解决晕动症（CS）的方法，这是一种使人眩晕的前庭综合征，会导致恶心、头晕和全身不适，大多数 VR 用户都会经历这种症状，这是由于视觉、本体感觉和前庭信息之间的整合不匹配造成的。在一项双盲、对照临床试验中，我们提出了一种治疗 CS 的创新方法，包括在线振荡不可感知的经颅交流电刺激（tACS），频率为 10 Hz，经生物物理建模以达到双侧前庭皮层。在 37 名健康受试者进行 VR 过山车体验期间，tACS 显著减轻了 CS 恶心的症状。这种效果是频率依赖性的，对安慰剂不敏感。25 名受试者的皮肤电反应调制反映了主观获益，这涉及到自主神经活动。除了证实经颅传递的振荡在生理上调节前庭系统功能（及其功能障碍）方面的作用外，研究结果还开辟了一种新的途径，可以促进 VR 在不同场景中的应用，并可能有助于治疗其他前庭功能障碍。
