Virtual reality trial looks to prevent dementia
A new study in America is conducting research into combining exercise and virtual reality to see if it can help prevent age-related cognitive decline and dementia.
Preventing dementia rather than curing it
The aim of the research is to prevent dementia and Alzheimer’s from forming, rather than finding a cure. Judy Pa, assistant professor at the Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, explains that dementia is only diagnosed once the person is no longer able to take care of themselves and carry out everyday tasks such as shopping, driving and dressing, which is a very late stage of the disease. ‘It happens much later in the progression of the disease. A lot of the neurodegenerative diseases, which are the underlying ideologies of dementia, take 10, 20 years to develop.’
The reason virtual reality is an important part of the research is because it ‘provides a first-person, 3D immersive experience that is critical to spatial memory training.’ Combining this with physical exercise targets some of the factors associated with developing dementia, such as an inactive lifestyle and lack of cognitive and social stimulation.
How the study works
During the study, participant’s keep their heart rate up by pedalling on an exercise bike. Meanwhile, the VR headset takes them on a cycle route where they must attempt to learn the route the bike takes, pick up food and feed it to some animals. According to assistant professor Pa, ‘understanding changes in the brain that happen with exercise, changes in the brain that happen when you’re in an enriched environment and putting those two together, and that’s what our intervention is currently targeting.’
Though still in its early stages, the study is a promising start to helping us further our understanding of how dementia develops and takes hold. Indeed, preventing the devastating disease in its tracks is a pragmatic approach which will hopefully eliminate the need to find the - so far - elusive cure.
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