researchers of the Tohoku University Smart-Aging Research Center (IDAC) have shown, in recent research, that virtual physical training can reduce it psychosocial stress and theanxiety. Previous studies had already shown the benefits of virtual physical training, such as improvement of cognitive abilities.
The results of the new study have been published in the scientific journal International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Virtual physical training: here are the benefits
It is officially recognized that physical exercise benefits our psychophysical well-being. But for some individuals, such as neurological patients, people with cardiovascular disease, and hospitalized patients, practicing activities is not only impractical, but in some cases it can be even too dangerous. However, similar effects can be achieved using immersive virtual reality (IVR) with virtual physical training.
In the first instance, virtual physical breastfeeding was developed for recreational purposes, but later on, IVR attracted the interest of the scientific community for its potential use for clinical purposes, as it would have allowed patients to experience a virtual world through a virtual organism.
In the researchers’ previous study, they found that watching a body practicing virtual physical training visualized in the first person induces physiological changes. Heart rate increased / decreased consistent with the virtual movements, even though the young participants remained still. As a result, important cognitive and neural benefits occurred, just like after a real training session.
In a follow-up study, the same benefits were also found in healthy elderly subjects after 20-minute virtual physical training sessions that took place twice a week for six weeks.
In the new research, scientists explored the effect on stress, adding another layer to the beneficial effects of virtual physical training. The young healthy subjects, sitting still, experienced virtual physical training visualized from the first person perspective, creating the illusion of possessing the movements.
The avatar ran at 6.4 km / h for 30 minutes. Before and after the virtual training, researchers induced and assessed the psychosocial stress response by measuring salivary alpha-amylase, a crucial biomarker that indicates neuroendocrine stress levels.. Likewise, the researchers distributed a subjective anxiety questionnaire.
The results showed a reduced psychosocial stress response and lower levels of anxiety after virtual physical training, comparable to what happens after a real physical activity session.
“Psychosocial stress represents the stress experienced in frequent social situations such as social judgment, rejection and when our performance is evaluated“, Explained the Professor Dalila Burinwho developed the study: “Although moderate stress exposure can be beneficial, repeated and increased exposure can be detrimental to our health. This type of virtual training represents a new frontier, especially in countries like Japan, where there are demands for high performance and an aging population ”.
Examples of psychosocial stress can include anything that results in a perceived threat to our social status, social esteem, respect and / or acceptance within a group; threat to our self-esteem; or a threat over which we feel we have no control. All of these threats can lead to a stress response in the body. These can be some of the most strenuous stressors to deal with, as they can make us feel unsupported and alienated. This can make it more difficult to cope with everyday life.
When psychosocial stress triggers a stress response, the body releases a group of stress hormones including correspondent, epinephrine (or adrenaline), and dopamine, which leads to an explosion of energy and other changes in the body. The changes caused by stress hormones can be helpful in the short term, but they can be harmful in the long term. For example, cortisol can improve the functioning of the body by increasing available energy (so that it is more possible to fight or flee), but it can lead to suppression of the immune system and a host of other effects.
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