BACKGROUND: Over the past 25 years, the development of multiuser applications has seen considerable advancements and challenges. The technological development in this field has emerged from simple chat rooms through videoconferencing tools to the creation of complex, interactive, and often multisensory virtual worlds. These multiuser technologies have gradually found their way into mental health care, where they are used in both dyadic counseling and group interventions. However, some limitations in hardware capabilities, user experience designs, and scalability may have hindered the effectiveness of these applications. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aims at summarizing the progress made and the potential future directions in this field while evaluating various factors and perspectives relevant to remote multiuser interventions. METHODS: The systematic review was performed based on a Web of Science and PubMed database search covering articles in English, published from January 1999 to March 2024, related to multiuser mental health interventions. Several inclusion and exclusion criteria were determined before and during the records screening process, which was performed in several steps. RESULTS: We identified 49 records exploring multiuser applications in mental health care, ranging from text-based interventions to interventions set in fully immersive environments. The number of publications exploring this topic has been growing since 2015, with a large increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most digital interventions were delivered in the form of videoconferencing, with only a few implementing immersive environments. The studies used professional or peer-supported group interventions or a combination of both approaches. The research studies targeted diverse groups and topics, from nursing mothers to psychiatric disorders or various minority groups. Most group sessions occurred weekly, or in the case of the peer-support groups, often with a flexible schedule. CONCLUSIONS: We identified many benefits to multiuser digital interventions for mental health care. These approaches provide distributed, always available, and affordable peer support that can be used to deliver necessary help to people living outside of areas where in-person interventions are easily available. While immersive virtual environments have become a common tool in many areas of psychiatric care, such as exposure therapy, our results suggest that this technology in multiuser settings is still in its early stages. Most identified studies investigated mainstream technologies, such as videoconferencing or text-based support, substituting the immersive experience for convenience and ease of use. While many studies discuss useful features of virtual environments in group interventions, such as anonymity or stronger engagement with the group, we discuss persisting issues with these technologies, which currently prevent their full adoption.
- MeSH
- duševní poruchy terapie MeSH
- duševní zdraví MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- služby péče o duševní zdraví * MeSH
- telemedicína MeSH
- videokonferování MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- přehledy MeSH
- systematický přehled MeSH
Vytvořili jsme gamifikovanou mobilní aplikaci Limoterapie se záměrem poskytnout hlavně mladším generacím nástroj pro zábavnou edukaci a samoléčbu subsyndromálních až mírných příznaků obsedantně-kompulzivní poruchy. Cílem článku je shrnout zkušenosti z testování této hry v obecné populaci s důrazem na její použitelnost a efektivitu.
We developed a gamified mobile application Limoterapie with the intention to provide younger generations with an entertaining tool for education and self-management of subsyndromal to mild symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. This article aims to summarize data from testing the game in the general population, with an emphasis on its usability and effectivity.
- Klíčová slova
- Limoterapie,
- MeSH
- chytrý telefon MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mobilní aplikace * klasifikace statistika a číselné údaje MeSH
- obsedantně kompulzivní porucha * diagnóza prevence a kontrola MeSH
- pilotní projekty MeSH
- průzkumy a dotazníky statistika a číselné údaje MeSH
- vzdělávání pacientů jako téma MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- hodnotící studie MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
We designed a behavioral task called One-Trial Trace Escape Reaction (OTTER), in which rats incidentally associate two temporally discontinuous stimuli: a neutral acoustic cue (CS) with an aversive stimulus (US) which occurs two seconds later (CS-2s-US sequence). Rats are first habituated to two similar environmental contexts (A and B), each consisting of an interconnected dark and light chamber. Next, rats experience the CS-2s-US sequence in the dark chamber of one of the contexts (either A or B); the US is terminated immediately after a rat escapes into the light chamber. The CS-2s-US sequence is presented only once to ensure the incidental acquisition of the association. The recall is tested 24 h later when rats are presented with only the CS in the alternate context (B or A), and their behavioral response is observed. Our results show that 59% of the rats responded to the CS by escaping to the light chamber, although they experienced only one CS-2s-US pairing. The OTTER task offers a flexible high throughput tool to study memory acquired incidentally after a single experience. Incidental one-trial acquisition of association between temporally discontinuous events may be one of the essential components of episodic memory formation.
- MeSH
- krysa rodu rattus MeSH
- rozpomínání MeSH
- strach fyziologie MeSH
- úniková reakce MeSH
- vydry * MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- krysa rodu rattus MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
Hlavním cílem sdělení je představit odborné veřejnosti tréninkový program VRcity, který umožňuje komplexní trénink kognitivních schopností v prostředí virtuálního města. Tento program byl testován u skupiny zdravých seniorů. Na základě vybraných výsledků sdělení demonstruje validitu jednotlivých paradigmat a hlavní principy uplatňované u tréninkového systému (využití herních scénářů) i jednotlivých her (efekt nastavitelných parametrů pro úpravu náročnosti na výkon testovaných osob). Úkoly simulují běžné činnosti s cílem zvýšit ekologickou validitu tréninku. Navržený systém navíc umožňuje využití komplexní formy kognitivního tréninku kombinující opakování úkolů se zvyšující se náročností s nácvikem strategií potenciálně přenositelných do běžného života trénované osoby. Tréninkový program je navržen nejen pro populaci seniorů pro vytvoření kognitivní „rezervy“, ale umožňuje i uplatnění u klinických skupin s důrazem na neurodegenerativní onemocnění a psychiatrické populace s přítomným kognitivním deficitem.
The main aim of this paper is to present to professional community a training application VRcity, which enables comprehensive training of cognitive abilities in the virtual city environment. The program was tested in the population of healthy seniors. Based on selected results, we demonstrate the validity of individual paradigms, main principles applied in the training system in general (use of game scenarios) or in individual serious games (the effect of adjustable parameters on the performance of the tested person in terms of increasing difficulty level). The tasks are designed as simulations of daily activities in order to increase the ecological validity of the training. In addition, the proposed system allows the use of cognitive training combining repetition of tasks with increasing difficulty and the practice of strategies potentially transferable to everyday activities. The training program is designed not only for the elderly population to form a cognitive „reserve“, it can be utilized also in clinical groups with an emphasis on neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders with cognitive symptoms.
- Klíčová slova
- VRcity,
- MeSH
- duševní poruchy rehabilitace MeSH
- hodnocení programu statistika a číselné údaje MeSH
- kognitivní trénink * metody statistika a číselné údaje MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- neurodegenerativní nemoci rehabilitace MeSH
- reprodukovatelnost výsledků MeSH
- senioři MeSH
- tréninková simulace * metody statistika a číselné údaje MeSH
- validační studie jako téma MeSH
- virtuální realita MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- senioři MeSH
- Publikační typ
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
Standard approaches to cognitive remediation can suffer from limited skill transferability to patients' life. Complex virtual environments (VEs) enable us to create ecologically valid remediation scenarios while preserving laboratory conditions. Nevertheless, the feasibility and efficacy of these programs in psychiatric patients are still unknown. Our aim was to compare the feasibility and efficacy of a novel rehabilitation program, designed in complex VEs, with standard paper-pencil treatment in patients with schizophrenia and major depressive disorder. We recruited 35 participants to complete a VE rehabilitation program and standard treatment in a crossover pilot study. Twenty-eight participants completed at least one program, 22 were diagnosed with schizophrenia and 6 with major depressive disorder. Participant's performance in the representative VE training task significantly improved in terms of maximum achieved difficulty (p ≤ 0.001), speed (p < 0.001) and efficacy (p ≤ 0.001) but not in item performance measure. Neither the standard treatment nor the VE program led to improvement in standardized cognitive measures. Participants perceived both programs as enjoyable and beneficial. The refusal rate was higher in the VE program (8.6%) than in the standard treatment (0%). But in general, the VE program was well-accepted by the psychiatric patients and it required minimal involvement of the clinician due to automatic difficulty level adjustment and performance recording. However, the VE program did not prove to be effective in improving cognitive performance in the standardized measures.
Objectives. Schizophrenia has a debilitating impact on patient‘s cognitive functioning and everyday activities. As a part of the treatment, schizophrenia patients attend sessions of cognitive remediation to restore impaired cognitive abilities. To combine cognitive and real life training, this study presents a virtual task to use in cognitive rehabilitation and assessment. Virtual Supermarket Shopping Task (VSST) simulates a shopping activity, in which participants have to memorize and collect items from a virtual supermarket. The aim of this study is to establish its validity for use in clinical practice. Sample and setting. Twenty patients suffering from chronic schizophrenia and twenty healthy controls were tested. Each participant completed the task and a battery of standard neuropsychological tests. Statistical analyses. Groups’ results were compared with Student’s t-tests. Validity of VSST was examined using correlations with standard neuropsychological measures. Several VSST metrics, such as trial difficulty, distances and times, and the effect the extraneous variables have on VSST measures were investigated using analyses of variance and mixed effect models. Results. The analyses demonstrate that patients perform worse in VSST than healthy controls and their performance corresponds to their mnemonic abilities measured by standard neuropsychological tests. VSST performance relates to the level of executive functioning only in patients. There was no effect of gaming experience on VSST performance. While potential gender effect has to be addressed in future studies, age seems to play a role in the additional VSST measures (trial time and distance). Study limitations.Subjects were tested only once and therefore long term benefits of using VSST in rehabilitation could not be investigated. Only schizophrenia patients were included in the sample which reduces generalizability of results to other psychiatric and neurologic conditions.
- MeSH
- chronická nemoc rehabilitace MeSH
- duševně nemocní MeSH
- kognitivní remediace metody MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- psychiatrická rehabilitace metody MeSH
- reprodukovatelnost výsledků MeSH
- schizofrenie * rehabilitace MeSH
- supermarkety MeSH
- terapie pomocí virtuální reality * metody MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- hodnotící studie MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
Human perception and cognition are based predominantly on visual information processing. Much of the information regarding neuronal correlates of visual processing has been derived from functional imaging studies, which have identified a variety of brain areas contributing to visual analysis, recognition, and processing of objects and scenes. However, only two of these areas, namely the parahippocampal place area (PPA) and the lateral occipital complex (LOC), were verified and further characterized by intracranial electroencephalogram (iEEG). iEEG is a unique measurement technique that samples a local neuronal population with high temporal and anatomical resolution. In the present study, we aimed to expand on previous reports and examine brain activity for selectivity of scenes and objects in the broadband high-gamma frequency range (50-150 Hz). We collected iEEG data from 27 epileptic patients while they watched a series of images, containing objects and scenes, and we identified 375 bipolar channels responding to at least one of these two categories. Using K-means clustering, we delineated their brain localization. In addition to the two areas described previously, we detected significant responses in two other scene-selective areas, not yet reported by any electrophysiological studies; namely the occipital place area (OPA) and the retrosplenial complex. Moreover, using iEEG we revealed a much broader network underlying visual processing than that described to date, using specialized functional imaging experimental designs. Here, we report the selective brain areas for scene processing include the posterior collateral sulcus and the anterior temporal region, which were already shown to be related to scene novelty and landmark naming. The object-selective responses appeared in the parietal, frontal, and temporal regions connected with tool use and object recognition. The temporal analyses specified the time course of the category selectivity through the dorsal and ventral visual streams. The receiver operating characteristic analyses identified the PPA and the fusiform portion of the LOC as being the most selective for scenes and objects, respectively. Our findings represent a valuable overview of visual processing selectivity for scenes and objects based on iEEG analyses and thus, contribute to a better understanding of visual processing in the human brain.
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
Path integration is thought to rely on vestibular and proprioceptive cues yet most studies in humans involve primarily visual input, providing limited insight into their respective contributions. We developed a paradigm involving walking in an omnidirectional treadmill in which participants were guided on two sides of a triangle and then found their back way to origin. In Experiment 1, we tested a range of different triangle types while keeping the distance of the unguided side constant to determine the influence of spatial geometry. Participants overshot the angle they needed to turn and undershot the distance they needed to walk, with no consistent effect of triangle type. In Experiment 2, we manipulated distance while keeping angle constant to determine how path integration operated over both shorter and longer distances. Participants underestimated the distance they needed to walk to the origin, with error increasing as a function of the walked distance. To attempt to account for our findings, we developed configural-based computational models involving vector addition, the second of which included terms for the influence of past trials on the current one. We compared against a previously developed configural model of human path integration, the Encoding-Error model. We found that the vector addition models captured the tendency of participants to under-encode guided sides of the triangles and an influence of past trials on current trials. Together, our findings expand our understanding of body-based contributions to human path integration, further suggesting the value of vector addition models in understanding these important components of human navigation.
- MeSH
- chůze fyziologie MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- orientace fyziologie MeSH
- podněty MeSH
- propriocepce fyziologie MeSH
- prostorová navigace fyziologie MeSH
- teoretické modely MeSH
- vnímání prostoru fyziologie MeSH
- výpočetní biologie metody MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. MeSH
Past studies suggest that learning a spatial environment by navigating on a desktop computer can lead to significant acquisition of spatial knowledge, although typically less than navigating in the real world. Exactly how this might differ when learning in immersive virtual interfaces that offer a rich set of multisensory cues remains to be fully explored. In this study, participants learned a campus building environment by navigating (1) the real-world version, (2) an immersive version involving an omnidirectional treadmill and head-mounted display, or (3) a version navigated on a desktop computer with a mouse and a keyboard. Participants first navigated the building in one of the three different interfaces and, afterward, navigated the real-world building to assess information transfer. To determine how well they learned the spatial layout, we measured path length, visitation errors, and pointing errors. Both virtual conditions resulted in significant learning and transfer to the real world, suggesting their efficacy in mimicking some aspects of real-world navigation. Overall, real-world navigation outperformed both immersive and desktop navigation, effects particularly pronounced early in learning. This was also suggested in a second experiment involving transfer from the real world to immersive virtual reality (VR). Analysis of effect sizes of going from virtual conditions to the real world suggested a slight advantage for immersive VR compared to desktop in terms of transfer, although at the cost of increased likelihood of dropout. Our findings suggest that virtual navigation results in significant learning, regardless of the interface, with immersive VR providing some advantage when transferring to the real world.
- MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mladý dospělý MeSH
- podněty * MeSH
- učení fyziologie MeSH
- virtuální realita * MeSH
- znalosti * MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mladý dospělý MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. MeSH
Virtuální realita poskytuje kontrolované a imerzivní prostředí a nabízí tak možnost vytvářet ekologicky validní stimuly v prostředí s vysokou mírou prezence. V psychologických vědách se používá od počátku 90. let a v psychiatrii se objevuje jako nástroj léčby fobií těsně poté. Od té doby zažila virtuální realita značný technologický pokrok a vzhledem k současné finanční dostupnosti se ukazuje jako užitečný nástroj doplňující zaběhnuté terapeutické procesy. V rámci psychiatrie je používaná jako nástroj výzkumný, diagnostický a léčebný. Psychiatrům nabízí prostředí, ve kterém lze u pacientů objektivně testovat míru symptomů či bezpečně simulovat stresové situace. Článek prezentuje přínosy a problémy, které s sebou nasazení virtuální reality v psychiatrii přináší, a podává i nástin potencionálního využití v budoucnosti.
Virtual reality is a tool providing controlled and immersive environment and therefore allows us to simulate ecologically valid stimuli in an environment with a high level of presence. As such, virtual reality has been used in psychological sciences since the early 90s, with its application in psychiatry in phobia treatment coming soon after. Since then, virtual reality received significant technological improve-ments and thanks to its cost reduction it promises to become a useful tool supporting current therapeutic practices. In psychiatry, virtual reality is used as a research, diagnostic and therapeutic tool. It offers psychiatrists to simulate environments for objective assessment of patient’s symptoms and safe simulations of stressful situations. This review presents the benefits and drawbacks of implementing virtual reality in psychiatry and offers a preview of the field’s future.
