We previously showed that the illusory sense of ownership and agency over a moving body in immersive virtual reality (displayed in first person perspective) can trigger subjective and physiological reactions on the real subject’s body and, therefore, an acute improvement of cognitive functions after a single session of high-intensity intermittent exercise performed exclusively by the own virtual body, similarly to what happens when we actually do physical activity. As well as confirming previous results, here we aimed at finding in the elderly an increased improvement after a longer virtual training with similar characteristics. 42 healthy older subjects (28 females, average age 71.71 years) completed a parallel-group RCT (UMIN000039843, umin.ac.jp) including an adapted version of the virtual training previously used: while sitting, participants observed the virtual body in first person perspective (1PP) or third person perspective (3PP) performing 20 minutes of virtual high-intensity intermittent exercise (vHIE, the avatar switched between fast and slow walking every two minutes). This was repeated twice a week for six weeks. During the vHIE, we measured the heart rate and administered questionnaires to evaluate illusory body ownership and agency. Before the beginning of the intervention, immediately after the first session of vHIE, and at the end of the entire intervention, we evaluated the cognitive performance at the Stroop task with the online recording of hemodynamic activity over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. While we confirm previous results regarding the virtual illusion and its physiological effects, we did not find significant cognitive or neural improvement immediately after the first vHIE session. As a novelty, in 1PP group only we detected a significant decrease in response time the Stroop task in the post intervention assessment, compared to its baseline; coherently, we found an increased activation on lDLPFC after the entire intervention. While the current results strengthen the impact of the virtual full-body illusion and its physiological consequences on elderly too, they might have stronger and more established body representations; perhaps, a longer and increased exposure to those illusions is necessary to initiate the cascade of events that culminates to the improved cognitive performance.

中文翻译：

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在移动的虚拟身体上反复接触虚幻的身体所有权和代理感会改善老年人的认知和神经功能。

我们之前曾证明，身临其境的虚拟现实（以第一人称视角显示）对运动物体的虚幻的主人翁意识和代理感会触发真实受试者身体的主观和生理反应，因此，在单次运动后，认知功能会急剧改善专门由自己的虚拟身体进行的高强度间歇性锻炼，类似于我们实际进行体育锻炼时所发生的情况。除了确认先前的结果外，我们的目标是在老年人进行具有类似特征的长时间虚拟训练后，发现其改善情况有所改善。42名健康的老年受试者（28名女性，平均年龄71.71岁）完成了平行分组的RCT（UMIN000039843，umin.ac.jp），其中包括以前使用的虚拟训练的改编版：坐在时，参与者以第一人称视角（1PP）或第三人称视角（3PP）观察了虚拟身体，进行了20分钟的虚拟高强度间歇锻炼（vHIE，虚拟角色每两分钟在快慢行走之间切换）。每周重复两次，共六周。在vHIE期间，我们测量了心率并进行了问卷调查，以评估虚幻的身体所有权和代理权。在干预开始之前，第一轮vHIE之后以及整个干预结束时，我们通过在线记录左背外侧前额叶皮层的血液动力学活动，评估了Stroop任务的认知表现。尽管我们确认了有关虚拟错觉及其生理效应的先前结果，我们在第一个vHIE会话后没有立即发现明显的认知或神经改善。新颖的是，仅在1PP组中，与基线相比，我们在干预后评估中发现Stroop任务的响应时间显着减少；一致地，我们发现在整个干预后，对IDLPFC的激活增加。尽管当前的结果也增强了虚拟全身错觉的影响及其对老年人的生理影响，但它们可能具有更强大和更成熟的身体表征；也许，需要更长的时间并增加与这些错觉的接触，以引发一系列事件，最终达到提高认知能力的目的。仅在1PP组中，与基线相比，干预后评估中Stroop任务的响应时间显着减少。一致地，我们发现在整个干预后，对IDLPFC的激活增加。尽管当前的结果也增强了虚拟全身错觉的影响及其对老年人的生理影响，但它们可能具有更强大和更成熟的身体表征；也许，需要更长的时间并增加与这些错觉的接触，以引发一系列事件，最终达到提高认知能力的目的。仅在1PP组中，与基线相比，干预后评估中Stroop任务的响应时间显着减少。一致地，我们发现在整个干预后，对IDLPFC的激活增加。尽管当前的结果也增强了虚拟全身错觉的影响及其对老年人的生理影响，但它们可能具有更强大和更成熟的身体表征；也许，需要更长的时间并增加与这些错觉的接触，以引发一系列事件，最终达到提高认知能力的目的。尽管当前的结果也增强了虚拟全身错觉的影响及其对老年人的生理影响，但它们可能具有更强大和更成熟的身体表征；也许，需要更长的时间并增加与这些错觉的接触，以引发一系列事件，最终达到提高认知能力的目的。尽管当前的结果也增强了虚拟全身错觉的影响及其对老年人的生理影响，但它们可能具有更强大和更成熟的身体表征；也许，需要更长的时间并增加与这些错觉的接触，以引发一系列事件，最终达到提高认知能力的目的。