ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Motor Neuroscience
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1681538
This article is part of the Research TopicAugmentation technology: understanding better how such devices interface with the bodyView all articles
When Embodiment Matters Most: A Confirmatory Study on VR Priming in Motor Imagery Brain-Computer Interfaces Training
Provisionally accepted
- 1Laboratory for Robotics and Engineering Systems (LARSyS), Instituto Superior Técnico (ISR), Lisboa, Portugal
- 2Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
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Background: Virtual Reality (VR) feedback is increasingly integrated into Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) applications, enhancing the Sense of Embodiment (SoE) toward virtual avatars and fostering more vivid motor imagery (MI). VR-based MI-BCIs hold promise for motor rehabilitation, but their effectiveness depends on neurofeedback quality. Although SoE may enhance MI training, its role as a priming strategy prior to VR-BCI has not been systematically examined, as prior work assessed embodiment only after interaction. This study investigates whether embodiment priming influences MI-BCI outcomes, focusing on event-related desynchronization (ERD) and BCI performance. Methods: Using a within-subject design, we combined data from a pilot study with an extended experiment, yielding 39 participants. Each completed an embodiment induction phase followed by MI training with EEG recordings. ERD and lateralization indices were analyzed across conditions to test the effect of prior embodiment. Results: Embodiment induction reliably increased SoE, yet no significant ERD differences were found between embodied and control conditions. However, lateralization indices showed greater variability in the embodied condition, suggesting individual differences in integrating embodied feedback. Conclusion: Overall, findings indicate that real-time VR-based feedback during training, rather than prior embodiment, is the main driver of MI-BCI performance improvements. These results corroborate earlier findings that real-time rendering of embodied feedback during MI-BCI training constitutes the primary mechanism supporting performance gains, while highlighting the complex role of embodiment in VR-based MI-BCIs.
Keywords: Sense of embodiment, virtual reality, Motor Imagery, Brain-Computer Interfaces, Event-Related Desynchronization
Received: 07 Aug 2025; Accepted: 08 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Esteves, Vagaja, Andrade and Vourvopoulos. 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: Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Laboratory for Robotics and Engineering Systems (LARSyS), Instituto Superior Técnico (ISR), Lisboa, Portugal
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