Long-duration spaceflight adversely affects astronaut piloting performance.

A group of highly experienced pilots performed full-motion, simulated T-38 landings before and after extended missions aboard the International Space Station (ISS). On the day of return from the ISS pilots' performance was degraded on the initial landing attempt, with difficulty maintaining altitude during banking turns and navigational errors, which affected touchdown parameters such as touchdown speed, height over runway threshold and touchdown distance from the runway threshold. A positive result was that all pilots successfully completed a second landing attempt on the same day, suggesting a rapid recovery of performance once exposed to the task at hand.

Effects of cannabidiol on psychosocial stress, situational anxiety and nausea in a virtual reality environment: a protocol for a single-centre randomised clinical trial.

Introduction: The non-intoxicating plant-derived cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), has demonstrated therapeutic potential in a number of clinical conditions. Most successful clinical trials have used relatively high (≥300 mg) oral doses of CBD. Relatively few studies have investigated the efficacy of lower (<300 mg) oral doses, typical of those available in over-the-counter CBD products.

Feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of virtual reality as a patient education tool for people with cancer undergoing immunotherapy: a protocol for a randomised controlled pilot study in a regional setting.

Introduction: Patient education is a critical component of healthcare delivery. However, medical information and knowledge are complex and can be difficult for patients and families to comprehend when delivered verbally. The use of virtual reality (VR) to convey medical information to patients may bridge this communication gap and lead to more effective patient education.

A review of the geometrical basis and the principles underlying the use and interpretation of the video head impulse test (vHIT) in clinical vestibular testing.

This paper is concerned mainly with the assumptions underpinning the actual testing procedure, measurement, and interpretation of the video head impulse test-vHIT. Other papers have reported in detail the artifacts which can interfere with obtaining accurate eye movement results, but here we focus not on artifacts, but on the basic questions about the assumptions and geometrical considerations by which vHIT works. These matters are crucial in understanding and appropriately interpreting the results obtained, especially as vHIT is now being applied to central disorders.

Virtual reality digital surgical planning for jaw reconstruction: a usability study.

Background: Digital surgical planning (DSP) has revolutionized the preparation and execution of the management of complex head and neck pathologies. The addition of virtual reality (VR) allows the surgeon to have a three-dimensional experience with six degrees of freedom for visualizing and manipulating objects. This pilot study describes the participants experience with the first head and neck reconstructive VR-DSP platform.

Ocular counter-roll is less affected in experienced versus novice space crew after long-duration spaceflight.

Otoliths are the primary gravity sensors of the vestibular system and are responsible for the ocular counter-roll (OCR). This compensatory eye torsion ensures gaze stabilization and is sensitive to a head roll with respect to gravity and the Gravito-Inertial Acceleration vector during, e.g.

Exploring assessment of balance using virtual reality in patients at risk of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

Background: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common dose-limiting toxicity for people treated for cancer. Impaired balance and falls are functional consequences of CIPN. Virtual reality (VR) technology may be able to assess balance and identify patients at risk of falls.

The influence of visual feedback on alleviating freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease is reduced by anxiety.

Background: Previous research has established that anxiety is associated with freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson's disease (PD). Although providing body-related visual feedback has been previously suggested to improve FOG, it remains unclear whether anxiety-induced FOG might be improved.

Research Question: The current study aimed to evaluate whether body-related visual feedback (VF) improves FOG consistently across low and high threat conditions.

Virtual reality as a patient education tool in healthcare: A scoping review.

Objective: To explore what is currently known about the use of virtual reality (VR) as a patient education tool in healthcare.

Methods: Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review method and the PRISMA-ScR Checklist were employed. Four peer-reviewed databases were searched (Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, the Cochrane library).

A Video Self-Modeling Intervention Using Virtual Reality Plus Physical Practice for Freezing of Gait in Parkinson Disease: Feasibility and Acceptability Study.

Background: Despite optimal medical and surgical intervention, freezing of gait commonly occurs in people with Parkinson disease. Action observation via video self-modeling, combined with physical practice, has potential as a noninvasive intervention to reduce freezing of gait.

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a home-based, personalized video self-modeling intervention delivered via a virtual reality head-mounted display (HMD) to reduce freezing of gait in people with Parkinson disease.

Cochlear implant surgery and perioperative dizziness is associated with utricular hyperfunction.

Background: Dizziness is a common perioperative complication after cochlear implantation (CI). To date, the exact cause behind this phenomenon remains unclear. There is recent evidence to suggest that otolith function, specifically utricular, may be affected shortly after CI surgery, however whether these changes are related to patient symptoms has not yet been investigated.

Vestibular semicircular canal function as detected by video Head Impulse Test (vHIT) is essentially unchanged in people with Parkinson's disease compared to healthy controls.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common multi-system neurodegenerative disorder with possible vestibular system dysfunction, but prior vestibular function test findings are equivocal.

Objective: To report and compare vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) gain as measured by the video head impulse test (vHIT) in participants with PD, including tremor dominant and postural instability/gait dysfunction phenotypes, with healthy controls (HC).

Methods: Forty participants with PD and 40 age- and gender-matched HC had their vestibular function assessed.

Validating a Seated Virtual Reality Threat Paradigm for Inducing Anxiety and Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Although prior research has established that freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with anxiety, only one study to date has directly manipulated anxiety levels to induce FOG.

Objective: The current study aimed to replicate these previous findings and evaluate whether a seated version of a 'threat' virtual reality (VR) paradigm could induce anxiety and provoke FOG.

Methods: Twenty-four PD patients with FOG were assessed across various threat conditions in both a walking VR paradigm (Experiment 1) and a seated VR paradigm (Experiment 2).

Suppression head impulse test paradigm (SHIMP) characteristics in people with Parkinson's disease compared to healthy controls.

The suppression head impulse test paradigm (SHIMP) is a newly described indicator of vestibular function which yields two measures: vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) gain and a saccadic response. It is an alternative and complementary test to the head impulse test paradigm (HIMP). Parkinson's disease (PD) has known saccadic and central vestibular pathway dysfunction.

Applications of brain imaging methods in driving behaviour research.

Applications of neuroimaging methods have substantially contributed to the scientific understanding of human factors during driving by providing a deeper insight into the neuro-cognitive aspects of driver brain. This has been achieved by conducting simulated (and occasionally, field) driving experiments while collecting driver brain signals of various types. Here, this sector of studies is comprehensively reviewed at both macro and micro scales.

Examining attentional biases, interpretation biases, and attentional control in people with and without chronic pain.

Psychological models of chronic pain (CP) highlight cognitive-processing biases (ie, attentional biases, interpretation biases, and attentional control) as pivotal processes that uniquely and synergistically impact the development and maintenance of CP. Very few studies explore multiple cognitive biases, and no studies have examined these 3 processes together in a CP sample. Furthermore, there is a lack of research investigating the relationship between these cognitive processes and pain-relevant variables (eg, pain intensity and pain catastrophising).

Video-head impulse test in superior canal dehiscence.

Background: Superior Canal Dehiscence is classically diagnosed with typical abnormalities on Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (VEMPs) and Computed Tomography (CT) scans.

Aim: This paper discusses the utility of the video Head Impulse Test (vHIT) in SCD.

Methods: Data from 11 ears (8 patients) with SCD were retrospectively reviewed.

Law and (rec)order: Updating memory for criminal events with body-worn cameras.

Body-worn video is increasingly relied upon in the criminal justice system, however it is unclear how viewing chest-mounted video may affect a police officer's statement about an event. In the present study, we asked whether reviewing footage from an experienced event could shape an individual's statement, and if so, whether reporting before reviewing may preserve an officer's original experience. Student participants (n = 97) were equipped with chest-mounted cameras as they viewed a simulated theft in virtual reality.

Brief localised monocular deprivation in adults alters binocular rivalry predominance retinotopically and reduces spatial inhibition.

Short-term deprivation (2.5 h) of an eye has been shown to boost its relative ocular dominance in young adults. Here, we show that a much shorter deprivation period (3-6 min) produces a similar paradoxical boost that is retinotopic and reduces spatial inhibition on neighbouring, non-deprived areas.

Heart Rate Changes Prior to Freezing of Gait Episodes Are Related to Anxiety.

Background: Freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson's disease (PD) has been shown to be more frequent in stressful situations, implicating anxiety. Heart rate (HR) has been shown to increase prior to a FOG episode supporting the notion that elevated stress levels may trigger FOG. However, no studies to date have investigated whether elevated HR precedes all subtypes of FOG or only those episodes that are driven by anxiety.

Spontaneous Recovery of the Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex After Vestibular Neuritis; Long-Term Monitoring With the Video Head Impulse Test in a Single Patient.

Vestibular rehabilitation of patients in whom the level of vestibular function is continuously changing requires different strategies than in those where vestibular function rapidly becomes stable: where it recovers or where it does not and compensation is by catch-up saccades. In order to determine which of these situations apply to a particular patient, it is necessary to monitor the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) gains, rather than just make a single measurement at a given time. The video Head Impulse Test (vHIT) is a simple and practical way to monitor precisely the time course and final level of VOR recovery and is useful when a patient has ongoing vestibular symptoms, such as after acute vestibular neuritis.

20 Year Review of Three-dimensional Tools in Otology: Challenges of Translation and Innovation.

Introduction: Three-dimensional (3D) tools have played a significant role in advancing anatomical knowledge, in simulation and clinical practice in Otology. Technology is evolving at a rapid rate with new applications being reported at an overwhelming pace. It is important to continuously review new applications, assess emerging trends, and identify challenges to innovation so clinical translation progresses in an efficient and evidenced-based manner.

The Potential Benefits of Personalized 360 Video Experiences on Affect: A Proof-of-Concept Study.

Despite the importance of healthy affect to improving hospital outcomes, effective means of promoting healthy affect have yet to be elucidated. One unexplored solution lies with virtual reality (VR) technologies. The present study sought to investigate whether personalized VR interventions could improve affect levels in a university sample ( = 33) and one hospitalized patient depending upon one's baseline affective profile.

Capturing acute vertigo: A vestibular event monitor.

Objective: To facilitate the diagnosis of vestibular disorders by patient-initiated capture of ictal nystagmus.

Methods: Adults from an Australian neurology outpatient clinic reporting recurrent vertigo were recruited prospectively and taught to self-record spontaneous and positional nystagmus at home while symptomatic, using miniature video-oculography goggles. Consenting patients with ictal videorecordings and a final unblinded clinical diagnosis of Ménière disease (MD), vestibular migraine (VM), or benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) were included.