We all heard about virtual reality before. In fact, we witness it’s development in our day to day lives as we see it more often. One popular example would be those Snapchat filters that we use all the time. That’s a form of augmented reality. To define it, it’s basically a modified version of what you see in reality. As much as, we might enjoy using these multiple forms of virtual reality, it’s impacts on our brains aren’t non-existent. Although we have yet to know it’s exact consequences, we do know that it does impact a certain group of brain cells, the GPS cells.
The Experiment
A group of scientists, including a neurophysicist from the University of California, Mayank Mehta, performed and observed an experiment using rats. They placed the animals in two different but identical looking rooms. While one room was a regular room, the other was a virtual reality room that displayed the perspective the rat would see in the normal room. Throughout the entire process, they recorded the neuron activities of the rats and what do you know? The neurons’ activities appeared to differ. How? Didn’t the rooms look identical?
The Experiment Results
The “GPS” cells, which play a role in providing a mental map of one’s environment, received the most impact during this experiment. Half of it’s activity was shut down in the virtual reality room compared to real room. It’s a startling and drastic difference. Mayank Mehta suggests that the contrast of the other senses could be the reason. In other words, senses, like smell or touch, might not have correlated to the sight of the rat which could explain such a shut down of neuron activity. However, scientists are not certain about the hypothesis.
Another finding includes a mental pedometer, a step counter in the brain. Scientists discovered that the brains of the rats counted the steps the rats took. Observers believe that the brain translates this information in to the mental map that organisms make to find their way through a certain place. Since it is probable that other senses retrieve information to add to this map, the possibility of these senses being the cause of the neuron changes can appear to be reasonable.
Although nothing is certain yet, one fact we know for sure is that virtual reality does indeed have its affects on our brains. Whether or not it’ll work to the advantage of technology advancement or cause a mental illness, we don’t know. However, more research is taking place and sooner or later, we might have a narrowed explanation.
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