USE OF VIRTUAL REALITY TECHNOLOGIES TO RESTORE COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS AND QUALITY OF LIFE: AN APPLICATION FOR CARDIAC PATIENTS WITH BRAIN ISCHEMIA

Abstract

HighlightsWe present an overview of publications on neurological and cardiac rehabilitation programs using virtual reality technologies. Training that involves multitasking and combining cognitive and physical tasks with interactive scenarios is most effective in terms of the improvement of the quality of life of patients with coronary artery disease. Ecotherapy in virtual environment is a promising way to reduce anxiety and stress. The review presents the analysis of publications focused on neurological and cardiac rehabilitation programs using virtual reality technologies (VRT), involving the integration of multisensory and multidomain tasks, as well as a meta-analysis of such studies. It is shown that VRTs make it possible to simulate interactive scenarios for simulating vigorous activity with given visual, tactile and kinesthetic sensations and with the appropriate correction in accordance with the needs of various users. It is noted that when developing programs based on VRT, it is necessary to take into account the degree of immersion of users in the virtual environment and symptoms of virtual reality sickness.The analysis of meta-reviews of published articles indicates the need to continue research in this field due to the wide variety of rehabilitation programs, used indicators of cognitive functions and health status in heterogeneous populations of healthy individuals and cardiac patients involved in training.The results obtained allow us to conclude that neurological and cardiac rehabilitation is the most effective when it involves training with multitasking and combined cognitive and physical tasks in VR. Ecotherapy in virtual environment is a promising way to reduce anxiety and stress.