As virtual reality affects the brain? The answer may surprise you
When neurophysics University of California at Los Angeles, decided to find out what happens in the brain under the influence of virtual reality , they We were surprised: the brain responds very differently in virtual reality and the real world.
Scientists studied the hippocampus мозга - The part that is suffering from disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, depression, schizophrenia and epilepsy. The hippocampus is also important for the formation of памяти and helps the brain create mental maps of the rooms, so that we can move through it properly.
It is these mental maps, scientists used in their research. While it is not clear what causes the мозг create such maps, we know that they are based not only on the pegs. In the real world, the brain also uses the smells and sounds of movement in space.
So what happens when you create an environment without smells and sounds, such as virtual reality ? That is what the researchers tested the rats by creating a virtual reality using large screens and simulators, studying hippocampal нейроны their мозга.
They also studied the behavior of rats in a real room, similar to the virtual reality room.
The test results were surprising: hippocampal neurons of rats responded in very different ways in the environment of virtual reality and the real situation. In the world of virtual reality they intensified randomly, suggesting that rats do not know where they are, although the animals were moving in virtual environment is almost the same as in a real situation.
«map disappeared completely, - говорит Professor of the University of California in Los Angeles, Mayank Mehta. - No one expected this. The activity of neurons was random with respect to the provisions of the rats in the virtual world ».
blockquote> The researchers also found that the neurons of the hippocampus were very active when the rat was in the real world. But in virtual reality it has been involved in only about half of the neurons.
They also studied other brain cells, comparing what is happening in virtual reality and the real world in relation to the memory < / a>. As for memory, the magnetic memory has a group of neurons that communicate in two different languages at the same time: the rhythm and intensity.
In the virtual world «language» rhythm similar to the similar language in the real world, but BP violates its intensity. < br />
The rhythms are very important in the process of remembering, people with diseases affecting memory , could affect language rhythm in the brain. The researchers suggest that the use of virtual reality could help run the memory performance for those who suffer from diseases that affect the Memory .
«The neurons involved in memory processes, interact with other parts of the hippocampus as part of an orchestra, - says Mehta. - For a violinist and a trumpeter playing in an orchestra is not enough to play the music perfectly. They also need to be perfectly synchronized with other instruments ».
blockquote> Of course, the brain is a complex machine, and we do not fully understand how it works. But it is possible that one day, thanks to such studies we understand how to solve the problems that affect it.
Source: geektimes.ru/company/robohunter/blog/260448/
