BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Cognitive Neuroscience
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1537463
This article is part of the Research TopicModern applications of EEG in neurological and cognitive researchView all 7 articles
Virtual Embodiment Training is associated with relative alpha power modulation
Provisionally accepted
- Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, United States
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Virtual Reality mediated virtual embodiment training (VR-VET) is designed to reduce chronic pain, yet a neuroimaging marker predictive of outcomes or associated with clinical changes in pain has not been validated. This study considers four candidate EEG metrics that are associated with cognitive states of mental imagery, chronic pain intensity, and stress states. VR-VET with EEG enables measurement of these metrics and collection of kinematic data. Kinematic data serves as an indicator of functional movement. In a healthy population, this study assessed neuroimaging markers for cognitive processes involved in VET or pain perception.Methods: EEG was collected in 16 healthy individuals during VR-VET. Candidate EEG metrics were computed. Position data for each hand was used to calculate smoothness of movement within each activity. EEG metrics and smoothness were compared between the breathwork activity and activities with active movement of arms.Relative global alpha was significantly different in all VET activities compared to breathwork (p<0.001). Specifically, relative posterior alpha power (p<0.001) and relative mu (p=0.026) were significantly lower in all active conditions. Smoothness of the active arm varied across VET activities and was reduced compared to breathwork (p<0.001).Discussion: Neuroimaging markers are feasible to investigate VET mechanisms during movement. Relative global alpha is sensitive to VET states and may be related to motor imagery tasks or visual attention, making it a relevant EEG metric in the study of VET.
Keywords: virtual embodiment, EEG, Chronic Pain, virtual reality, Alpha power band
Received: 30 Nov 2024; Accepted: 24 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Miremadi, Yang, Kalra, Malladi and Scott. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Julia A Scott, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.