Can VR Change Your Sense Of Self?
With the popularity of immersive virtual reality growing, it’s time we looked at the power behind this technology and begin to understand how it affects our sense of self.
Predictive Coding is one of the leading theories explaining what our brain does when confronted with various information or stimuli. The theory claims that our brain is a prediction machine (1) and, in order to have good predictions, the brain combines things it has already learned with new information coming from the senses. It explains that some of layers of the brain predict whether a movement is self-generated or stemming from an external source (2).
This requires the notion of a so-called minimal-self, allowing for the brain to differentiate between the organism and the environment around it (3). The minimal-self notion is also a combination of previous knowledge with new incoming information and has been shown to be flexible and prone to mistakes. A great example is the Rubber Hand Illusion (4). The sight of a rubber hand being touched at the same time as a sensation of touch on a person’s actual hand results in the brain predicting that the rubber hand is part of the body and the minimal-self.
Immersive virtual reality allow for manipulation of the minimal-self by controlling the relationship between the visual information and the proprioceptive information. Using VR, we can create experiences where what a person sees and feels the usual prediction created by the minimal-self model, in addition to creating experiences that contradict our normal predictions. Recent research shows that virtual reality has indeed been effective in manipulating the minimal-self, for instance, to investigate phenomena such as the rubber hand illusion by creating full body illusions (5), treat body image disorders like anorexia (6), investigate mirror box therapy for amputees (7), and help heal spinal cord injuries (8).
When the brain experiences something that does not fit its usual predictions it can do one of several things. For one, it can re-sample the information from the senses. For example, when what a person sees does not fit what they feel in their proprioceptive sense, the brain can lower one of the senses. This sheds light on the possible reasons for mirror box therapy being effective for chronic pain treatment (9). Patients seeing a different body, limb, or feature than what they are used to might reduce this surprise by decreasing the sampling from their pain receptors. Another option the brain can opt for is updating its predictions or its model, creating a learning effect.
Karuna Labs leverages these studied techniques, therapies, and theories in the development of its Karuna Virtual Embodiment Training (KVET™) digital therapeutic software and program. Its specific immersive VR experiences help change the sense of self, thus retraining the brain to reduce chronic pain sensation and induce rapid learning.
Sources/References
(1) Friston, 2006
(2) Ishida, Suzuki, & Grandi, 2015; Seth, 2014
(3) Apps & Tsakiris, 2013; Limanowski & Blankenburg, 2013
(5) Slater, Spanlang, Sanchez-Vives, & Blanke, 2010
(6) Keizer, van Elburg, Helms, & Dijkerman, 2016
Article originally published Apr 24, 2017 for Karuna Labs.
