![]() ![]() In a clever twist, the team also built an actual playpen that completely mimicked the VR world, to see how the rats’ brains reacted between VR and the real world. Think a beachside, Santa Cruz- Us-type clown house décor. It had a seven-foot runway with distinct bands of coloring, and cues from the environment. Rather, the setup was projected inside a housing. And (unfortunately), no, the rats didn’t wear super tiny rodent VR headsets. The team first built a virtual environment that looked as close to the real world as possible, without diving into the uncanny valley. The first step was figuring out how the brain responds to VR. By tapping into theta waves, the authors guessed, we might be able to dampen cognitive damage in people with dementia.īut that’s all theory. VR opens up a whole world of experiences, in a virtual space, that could “retrain” the hippocampus. It’s “why Alzheimer’s disease patients tend to get lost,” said Mehta, as connections to the hippocampus and its neurons are gradually damaged. Theta waves often wash over the hippocampus, which helps you remember things related to space, or how you navigate a space. “Can we retune it?” Enter Virtual RealityĪnswer: a bunch. “If that rhythm is so important, can we use a novel approach to make it stronger?” asked Mehta. Theta waves work with other brain waves to help us recall personal memories-something often lost in Alzheimer’s. Theta waves, which wash over the hippocampus, trigger a state in the brain that’s prone to a flow of ideas- à la “shower thoughts.” This state is critical to our ability to learn and memorize, as well as for plasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt to something strange and new. These are relatively slow waves that spark in the brain as you daydream, or in the middle of a great run, or in the shower with a totally relaxed mind. Other brain waves have been tested as a treatment for Alzheimer’s, showing they’re not just ambassadors that link up brain regions, but potential Doctors Without Borders in disguise.īut for memory researchers, theta waves are the crux. Alpha waves are when you’re chilling on the couch with a warm cup of tea. ![]() Beta waves, for example, dominate the brain when you’re focused and engaged. The four main types of brain waves are divided based on how fast they oscillate, similar to how often waves crash on the shore depending on weather conditions. As “neural diplomats,” these waves carry a tremendous amount of information across the brain, coordinating neural activity that’s far apart and ensuring each region is on the same page. The hippocampus processes memories of where we are in space, where we left our cars and keys, and questions like “ when did I last see my phone?”įor multiple brain areas to come together, however, the brain has a trick: electrical waves that oscillate over different regions. The motor cortex controls how each part of our muscles move. For example, the visual cortex has multiple layers that gradually process what we see. ![]() Within a brain region, neurons often form “governments” that tackle local issues. If the brain is Earth, then brain regions are individual countries or territories. “We have entered a new territory.” Electrical Oceans of the Brain “This is a new technology that has tremendous potential,” said Mehta. And shockingly, their brains responded to VR with unique activity that could impact how we learn, remember, and even treat memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s. Mehta at the University of California, Los Angeles, and senior author on a new paper in Nature Neuroscience. You see, the rats were running in virtual reality (VR), one so rich and lifelike that the rats “love to jump in and happily play games,” said Dr. Inside the hippocampus, a brain region that documents the stories of your life, neurons sparked a strange type of electrical wave that washed over the region, altering its normal rhythm. As the rats ran down a short balance beam, stopping occasionally to poke their noses at a water fountain, their brains knew something was off.
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