Interacting with virtual objects via embodied avatar hands reduces pain intensity and diverts attention
Interactive VR with embodied avatar hands significantly reduced pain intensity, unpleasantness, and pain-related thoughts compared to passive VR.
Virtual reality as a pain distraction modality for experimentally induced pain in a chronic pain population
Immersive, interactive VR increased pain tolerance in chronic pain patients. Greater presence during VR was positively associated with higher pain tolerance.
Immersive Virtual Reality for Pediatric Pain
VR is a promising tool for managing pediatric acute, procedural, and chronic pain, with presence, interactivity and embodiment enhancing acceptance.
Factors influencing the hypoalgesic effects of virtual reality
Immersive VR significantly increased pain tolerance and reduced pain unpleasantness, highlighting immersion in pleasant environments as key to VR’s hypoalgesic effects.
Bayesian integration in sensorimotor learning
This study shows that during sensorimotor learning the brain combines task statistics and sensory uncertainty according to Bayesian principles.
Virtual Reality as a Nonpharmacological Tool for Acute Pain Management: A Scoping Review
VR is a promising nonpharmacological approach for managing acute pain through distraction, potentially complementing or reducing medication needs.
Virtual Reality as a Distraction Intervention to Relieve Pain and Distress During Medical Procedures
This review shows that immersive VR effectively reduces pain and distress during medical procedures, calling for larger long-term randomized studies.
Presence and Cybersickness in Virtual Reality Are Negatively Related: A Review
This review concludes that presence and cybersickness in VR are typically inversely related, driven by sensory integration and mismatch.
The effect of uncertainty on pain decisions for self and others
This study shows that uncertainty shapes decisions about others’ pain, leading to more risk aversion and underestimation of strangers’ pain.
Uncertainty and stress: Why it causes diseases and how it is mastered by the brain
This paper defines stress as uncertainty using the free energy principle, explaining how persistent uncertainty drives cerebral energy demand and systemic dysfunction.