About this Research Topic
In the last decades, the use of interactive and simulated experiences, such as Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Virtual Reality (VR), has gained an increased interest in investigating cognitive and motor functions in healthy participants as well as in patients following brain injury. In particular, the use of VR in studying motor, bodily and sensory awareness is becoming a new frontier in the scenario of cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychological studies.
A large set of reality technologies have been utilized in studies related to motor and bodily self-consciousness, the sense of body ownership, the sense of agency, and attention and visuo-spatial disorders. These innovative approaches have the potential to significantly extend our current understanding of movement and therapy and may substantially impact delivery of new approaches and therapeutic interventions.
The aim of this Research Topic is to highlight the potential of Virtual Reality into developing new tools for research in cognitive psychology in healthy participants and treatment for patients with neurological disorders, such as stroke, dystonia, and Parkinson’s disease, among others. Submissions may be from any cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, or computer science discipline, and we welcome interdisciplinary reflections to promote a constructive discussion on the methods used and to increase the knowledge on these approaches.
This article collection will publish Original Research, Reviews, Short article, Case Reports, and others article types that focus on the application of the VR techniques (comprised immersive, semi-immersive and non-immersive virtual reality, including augmented reality technology) in studies related to body and motor awareness and to visuo-spatial attention, as research tools as well as rehabilitation methods. Importantly, for the rehabilitation methods, we aim at emphasizing the potential uses of virtual reality at hospitals and at home to increase the development of self-administered therapeutic approaches.
Keywords: virtual reality, augmented reality, cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology, ownership, sense of agency, attention, visuo-spatial disorders, embodied cognition
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
