For over two decades Virtual Reality (VR) has been used as a useful tool in several fields, from medical and psychological treatments, to industrial and military applications. Only in recent years researchers have begun to study the neural correlates that subtend VR experiences. Even if the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is the most common and used technique, it suffers several limitations and problems. Here we present a methodology that involves the use of a new and growing brain imaging technique, functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), while participants experience immersive VR. In order to allow a proper fNIRS probe application, a custom-made VR helmet was created. To test the adapted helmet, a virtual version of the line bisection task was used. Participants could bisect the lines in a virtual peripersonal or extrapersonal space, through the manipulation of a Nintendo Wiimote ® controller in order for the participants to move a virtual laser pointer. Although no neural correlates of the dissociation between peripersonal and extrapersonal space were found, a significant hemodynamic activity with respect to the baseline was present in the right parietal and occipital areas. Both advantages and disadvantages of the presented methodology are discussed.
Neurophysiological data indicate that the reachable peripersonal space and the unreachable\ud
extrapersonal space are represented in segregated parieto-frontal circuits and that when the\ud
unreachable space becomes reachable because of tool use, it is automatically coded by the network\ud
selective for peripersonal space. Here we directly tested the role of action’s consequences in space\ud
coding. Thirty-eight participants bisected lines at either a reachable distance (60 cms) or\ud
unreachable distance (120 cms) using either a laser pointer or laser cutter. The laser cutter but not\ud
the laser pointer had an action consequence; the line broke into two pieces. The results showed that\ud
distance moderated the effect of action. At an unreachable distance, the mean bisection point was\ud
closer to the center when participants used the laser cutter compared to when they used the laser\ud
pointer. There were no differences at a reachable distance (60 cms). This result suggests that the\ud
space in which the individual may determine a physical consequence is categorized as peripersonal\ud
space, independently from its actual distance from the individual’s bod
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